Lone Survivor (game)

The retro style and settings as illustrated in the game, as well as a simple yet attention-catching storyline have all made Lone Survivor another one-of-a-kind masterpiece to be remembered by fans of games all over the world. What captured and intrigued me was the music; which was a combination of the style of the 80's and the 90's with some jazz fusion within the mix. One of my favourite tracks from the game is called Home:

Music by Jasper Byrne - many kudos and thanks to him.

As a viewer of games and non-player of most games, I sometimes do prefer to sit back and enjoy the games themselves than playing them. There may be some things that I am yet to figure out in games, but that doesn't stop me from loving them and looking forward to even more. Video games have a way of allowing the gamers and spectators to immerse within their story and gameplay; many thanks to game creators and those who have been making it possible for us to enjoy these beautiful works.

Amnesia: The Great Work - Review

And once again, I have finished watching the full lets play of another Amnesia custom story - The Great Work. As players have claimed, it was one of the best custom story ever created even though parts of it is different from the original Amnesia, in terms of music and of course, the story line. I personally enjoy the new settings of the game, especially the different places that the protagonist, Charles had ventured through with the quest of finding pieces of orbs and shards before they fall into the enemy's hands. I really love how the game creator(s) made use of different textures and items to make the different environments in the game immersive and enjoyable, although I must say that many of the rooms like study rooms or places that hold goods looked almost the same which made them seem banal.

Even so, if I were to compare the endings between this game and The Dark Descent, The Great Work will triumph over The Dark Descent in terms of the ingenious concepts behind the final errand that is to be carried out by players. Nevertheless, I absolutely love the cultural places at which players must perform rituals before encountering the antagonist in The Dark Descent. Personally, I think playing The Great Work means that one is about to go through one hell of a journey, as the difficulty has been raised to almost the maximum level and players have to face various situations in which some of them were never featured in other Amnesia custom story.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Review

All the screenshots above are taken by me from the game, Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

" ... Suddenly a blue shimmering light engulfed me and the colors of the forest were washed away before my eyes. I kept running through the bleak surroundings, the trees had turned charcoal black with leaves of cinder, the ground covered in murky water. I pressed on through the drenched land as the glowing ember gave way to the rising wind and rained on me. I could hear pleading screams in the distance and I joined in as pain and fear overtook me. I fell to the ground gasping for air. ..." 

- Letter Regarding the Discovery of an Orb, Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

I have just finished watching lets plays of Amnesia: The Dark Descent by a fellow YouTuber. The music, the various ambience and the story greatly intrigues me by every second that I have spent watching the game. The mechanics and systems within the game attracts me, such as the mixing of herbs and other materials to produce acids or explosives via the classic alchemy. Some of the room designs in the game made me shiver, some looked like haven, while some brought me back to the other games. As any game lovers can put it, nostalgia strikes.

I appreciate the artsy and creative reads offered by the fellow game creators, from history to personal mementos with some help from the dark, cultural and sometimes unsteady ambience the game could offer. Also, I appreciate being able to hear real good British accent while watching the player wandering through the places which were heavily filled with impressive culture.

And to end this post, I hereby share my favourite music from the game itself. Do enjoy.

The Last of Us: Left Behind

For the record, The Last of Us greatly inspires me. I love this game as much as I love the other games that I play and watched that I feel that I need to curate all of them inside my heart. But this particular game holds a special meaning inside my heart and my mind. I absolutely love the main game. I always think that it is perfect by itself. And when a new game that serves as a prequel to TLoU is going to be released on 14th of February, I am excited all over again.

Note that I am NOT a PS3 player, so I couldn't play the game nor the prequel. But like the other players, I am excited. As a walkthrough and let's play viewer, I get to immerse myself into the game, either more or less than the players. Even though I can only catch a glimpse of the game through the video above, somehow I feel having a prequel isn't that bad at all. Since the story behind this prequel is going to revolve around Ellie and her bite-free condition, to be honest I find it kind of weird for the game developers to release the main game first before releasing The Last of Us: Left Behind. But of course, if they are to release the prequel first, the players will either feel a few more times excited in waiting for the main game OR they will know what to expect from the main game - but let's not deny that this is rather impossible. Somehow, knowing that Joel is not going to be in the prequel makes me feel sad. Well, he most probably wouldn't because Ellie was not even bitten yet. But nevertheless, it's still perfect, whether the main game has or has no prequel to it.

29 days left before The Last of Us: Left Behind is going to be released. But I don't think I can wait any longer. Dear 14th of February, can you come faster, please?

An Epic Game is an Epic Game

Aside from enjoying watching walkthroughs, I also have developed an interest in watching Let's Plays. I love watching Let's Plays for the commentaries and laughs.

 

Cry of Fear is quickly becoming one of my favourites after knowing it for just a month or two. It is eerie, mind blowing and it is what a horror game should made up of. The monsters and the atmosphere inside the game is horrifying and almost unimaginable, but the story made all of them almost believable; a turning head with a terrifying look and face, a tall creature and another disfigured being with chainsaws in their hands chasing after the protagonist known as Simon, and the weirdest yet most interesting thing I found in the game as I remembered, was the twisted bloody pathways that supposedly had defied gravity laws, taunting the players to their deaths as they are challenged to take every steps of moving forward with a huge amount of precaution so as to not fall into endless depths of darkness. Surrounding the bloody curvy pathways were people being imprisoned behind iron bars and cages, inflicting themselves to a grotesque standard.

 

I find the fact that the whole game was just merely a figment of the protagonist's imagination hard to believe, as it was just a story written by the protagonist during his recuperation from his sickness. I used to assume that the game was old, but when I actually made some research I was informed that it was a game from 2012. Odd, based on what I have seen and watched in the game as being old, and everything seemed to be operated manually like how they were used to be operated decades ago.

 

You see, the most probable reason to why I enjoy watching people playing horror games is due to the promisingly unusual experience that even I as a spectator can experience from the game itself. The solitary yet panicky sensation that I thought I could experience, assuming that's how the protagonist will feel when he or she is inside the game is always astoundingly new to me, which enables me to view things in a brand new perspective. Horror games are eye-openers for people who plays them or watches them being played. Moreover, we get the chance to dominate the threshold that has always prevented us from doing things that threatens their existence as thresholds. Having no imagination as a human being, we are learning from the values and concepts in horror games through experiences such as playing and watching them. From that, we are able to extend the limit that we initially and subconsciously set up in our minds so to not imagine further from the limit as they are not "socially acceptable in any way".

Compilation of Important Subjects

Picture of a woman named Tess, who was the protagonist's, Joel's girlfriend in The Last of Us. Picture from PlayStation.blog. I was rather upset to realise how she was like at first, but my respect for her grows bigger and bigger in time, and it was deeply troublesome to accept the fact that she died. She's a true fighter, brave and tough; probably my favourite female fictional character.

After watching a YouTuber playing The Last of Us, I could almost fall in love with the game. Since the time set for the zombie apocalypse in the game itself was apparently in the same era and actually really close to where we are now, it leads me to being able to relate the dilemma faced by the world during the two specific times. But I have one criticism about the game though, and it's that when Ellie was held as hostage by David and his crew, things just seem really weird to me. But maybe it was because I watched the plot first instead of watching that part of the game, which have always made me feel more expectant and demanding.

It's a Boy Girl Thing was definitely a reminiscent of Freaky Friday, basically due to the same concept. I laughed my head off from the beginning till the end, and it helped me to look at things in different ways such as the relationship of any kind can exist between a girl and a boy. This movie got me thinking more seriously about the ideas I have or had and the benefits of expanding them.

I also watched The Nanny Diaries. I do appreciate the way the movie express its idea, and how it helped me to look at things in a different matter. I was referring to the X family, which is one family that makes me feel sad to watch them. I've always wondered why would people, even adults, do such things to themselves and to those who are important to them? This movie made it clear to me, that we as human beings can always make the wrong decisions and mistakes at any time. And the only reason why we continue doing them is because we never really think about it, how it can affect the future. We are born of flesh and bone, and with the ability to think about anything. What we don't have, or what most of us don't have, is the will or sense of purpose in our lives. It's a fact that we are not prepared to become one of the living things in this world, we are really afraid. We are usually not born with a life that we want, hence we fall because we couldn't live up to pace.

Heart's Desire: My Favourite Dead Space 3 Background Music

I'm getting so lucky within this one day. First I got the chance to find a synthpop music that I enjoy listening, now I just found my favourite track from Dead Space 3. This is so awesome, it's turning out to be one really good day for me, and hoping that I'm not speaking this too soon, just in time for a tragedy to come and ruin my day *inserts paranoia*.

I can't say that I watched any old sci-fi movies or shows before, just because I can't or don't remember. But this song somehow turned out to be a reminiscent of those stuffs, as if I heard it somewhere before I listen to this. You can listen to this whenever Isaac Clarke is floating around space, such as during the travel towards SK-1P or looking for useable parts with Rosen.

Amnesia Custom Story- It's Hurting My Eyes- The Song in the Intro (I GOT IT!)

I just found this really awesome song. I love it ever since I heard it for the first time in Amnesia's custom story- It's Hurting My Eyes. It was a really nice game intro, no words can describe the epic-ness of it. I was searching for the song from Google to YouTube to YouTubers' comments below the video. Thankfully I found it and I really want to say thanks to the YouTuber who posted the comment that has the answer. If I'm not mistaken, this is a synthpop song. And did I mention that I love synthpop music?

 

By the way, this is the first song feature in It's Hurting My Eyes. Once again, thank you so much YouTuber!

Sincerely,

Someone Who Was Saved From A Lot Of Trouble

Because of You.

A Tragic to be Remembered

"Sometimes everything seems really... harsh. I don't think I can handle it. Or... I don't know if I'm gonna be, or strong enough to- to be on my own."

-Aubrey Miller, The First Time

An unwanted murder. Photo taken by me.

*

Have you ever imagined what it's like... to be killed by your own father?

I didn't. At least, not until a few weeks ago, when I read The Witch's House's plot for the first time.

My dad and I didn't really get along well, I'll admit this.

There were times when he got on my nerves, and there's nothing that I could do about it.

I couldn't fight off the rage I felt. Instead, I buried myself into the planet of Hatred.

I feel damaged and broken, as I am now thinking, for the first time in my life, how it feels to be murdered by my own dad. It's not that he hates me intentionally, but he kills me to protect someone who he thought has always been me.

**

I played The Witch's House for one hour or more. Believe it or not, to me, it's a surprisingly non-horrifying experience for me, despite other players claiming that it scared the shit out of them when they played the game. Maybe it's because of the ambience inside the house, that warm and cozy feeling inside an old house or mansion that I thought I could feel and understand, as if I'm inside the house myself.

Or maybe it's just me. Maybe I knew what I was about to deal with in the game all along. The sadness probably overcame my feelings of becoming afraid. I'll admit this; I watched part of the walkthroughs before playing it myself as I was subscribed to someone who finally played it. That was the first time I was introduced to this game, and never did I ever come across a game with such a storyline.

I almost died, literally. After playing the chasing part in the game for couple of times, I gave up. I guess I am no longer flexible with using my fingers to press buttons in a game. I searched for walkthroughs of the final chase; with Ellen (who was actually Viola) chasing Viola (who was Ellen). This time, curiosity kills me. I am still left emotionally destroyed, and it's only because I got greedy and anticipated to watch more of it, till the end of the video. I guess the actual Viola can never be reunited with her father in this game. And knowing someone like Ellen who will be the one that replaces her and continue staying with the father, I can understand why she will go mad eventually if she's still alive.

Ellen was forced to be abandoned. Her parents died, she had no love from nobody. It's understandable that she would hurt anybody or anything, like her friends and the cats. And having to switch bodies with Viola would give her the opportunity to be with Viola's father, as being loved is what she needed. She WOULD kill to get what she want, because she had nothing left but she wanted anything that she could get her hands onto- love. It would have made sense that this happened.

Humans are helpless and self-absorbed creatures. We will do anything to seek for attention and security. We want to be loved, but we won't be giving any away. To me, I personally think that this is the greatest obstacle that we often fail to overcome. And that is why, we are our own "worst enemy".

We hurt to make ourselves feel better, to rage on and to think that it's the only or best way to deal with our emptiness. We don't care, and we never will, about other things. That is the starting point of our failure, from there we begin to fall. We are scared, but we never admit our fears, nor committing ourselves to the truth; that is, we can still change, rectify the damage that we have done. But for someone like Ellen, the past is too untouchable and haunting. And I assume that she never regret doing what she had done, as she got what she wanted. But will she do more harm, I have no idea.

I must say it's a good game with the whole settings and wording that the author came up with, but that ending is just so twisted and unforgettable, too unforgettable...... To a point that it may haunt and traumatise me till the day I die.

Happy Birthday Isaac Clarke!

Today is apparently the day which we celebrate Isaac Clarke's birthday! By the way, I knew today is his birthday from the wikia website of Dead Space. So Happy Birthday to our brave hero! At least that's what I will call him, for being so courageous, and badass!

And anyway, I just found out that the necromorph outbreak, or the Marker infection, which was how I called it before, did happen for a few times, such as during the earlier events in Dead Space: Liberation, where the planet Uxor was attacked by necromorphs in the supposedly recent necromorph outbreak, the other one being in the era where the aliens like Rosetta attempted to freeze the planet, Tau Volantis to halt the events of Convergence.

But I still couldn't figure out the Codex business though, whether there's more than one in the Dead Space universe. In any case, I will come back with more stuffs to share.

Immerse and Obsess: Dead Space.

I got to make one thing clear; When I say I love Dead Space, it doesn't mean that I play the game ("Duh! You don't have to love it by playing it!", you would say, probably). I don't play Dead Space. I only watch people play Dead Space, YouTubers in this case. Why? I guess I just don't have the guts to play it. I'm an over-reactive sort of wimp. I can't play games that are too terrifyingly hardcore. I can easily get shocked near to death if I play them. And because I just wouldn't want to waste my money on expensive games or going through so much trouble to buy them online. So that's why I only watch walkthroughs.

 

I love the series so much that I've been talking about it for a few times in this blog, which shows how important it is to me. I've been spending so much time on it that I got so influenced by everything in it, considering how one thing can affect your thoughts and future intentions. I think about many things that I initially thought that I was incapable to think of, too important things that are featured in the game. Everything about the game is just inspirational and awesome, and it gives me the sense of focusing on what I should do for the better good.

 

I LOVE everything in this game. The settings, the storyline, the enemy concept, the characters; everything is just perfect. I'm SO IN LOVE with Dead Space that nothing can explain how I feel towards it.

 

About Dead Space 3, I have one question though: In the beginning of the game, Tim Caufman and Sam Ackerman (if it's a co-op game) went searching for the Codex as ordered by Dr. Earl Serrano, and they died with Tim being killed by General Mahad who purged the data in the Codex, and if all that happens 200 years before Isaac Clarke was apparently 49 years old during the events in Dead Space 3, so does that mean the Marker infection had occurred for at least two times, one during the search of the Codex by Tim and Sam, and the other one when Isaac was 49? And if that's true, how would you explain the events in the first Dead Space? Does that mean the infection even happened before the USG Ishimura started going into space searching for resources? I don't know, or am I actually missing something in the storyline of Dead Space, and technically Tim and Sam existed way before the invention of USG Ishimura. I'm guessing that the infection has occurred for quite a few times in the universe, as the introduction of Rosetta in Dead Space 3 can already prove that. But then again, are there more than one Codex?

p.s. Some parts in this post that I wrote may not be true though. Still trying to figure out the specific details of the DS plot. My apologies!

The Plight

As much as I hate to admit it, Dead Space 3: The Awakened's ending really bugged me and threw me amidst wonders and suspense. To me, the Moons are rather clueless about their future and the importance of controlling their temptation, as if invading Earth and bringing out necromorphs to eat humans CAN REALLY make them succeed in creating new "brothers" which will be with them forever. Well, the writers didn't really mention on this part. But no matter what happens, I hope Isaac and Carver are still alive and come up with ideas to stop that problem in hand.

The main focus of this article though, is to talk about the short term disagreements and dilemma that had occurred between Isaac and John Carver - one of the saddest sights to be seen in the series. In Dead Space: Liberation, the story was ended with John being acknowledged by Robert Norton that Isaac is able to translate the Marker's Language the way Damara does before she died. John met Isaac in the beginning of Dead Space 3, when he and Norton went up to Isaac's apartment to ask for Isaac's assistance in saving Ellie.

After a series of events such as the unwillingness of killing Norton and abandoning Ellie, and the fact that John was there with Isaac when they happened, till the very end John teamed up with Isaac to stop Danik from deactivating the machine that has been helping to stop Convergence, I must say the relationship between the two is getting closer, despite the quick build-up of their friendship in such a short period of time yet strengthened by such few but major events in the game. They looked out for one another, and occasionally comforted each other in memory of losing their loved ones and their fears. The close friendship between them is ought to be appreciated and be made visible such that it inspires people to really start appreciating the goodness in "strangers" towards them.

The fight between them is by far the most saddening event that can happen in the game. It was during the events in Dead Space 3: The Awakened when it happened; Isaac was mentally influenced by the Moons' intention of finding Earth and convert Earthlings to necromorphs which apparently are the "materials" to create their new brothers. And they fought, because John wanted to return to Earth and warn the people, which happens to be what Isaac is afraid of as he does not want them to let the Moons to find out the location of the Earth with Ellie being on Earth. The fought lasted for a short while and honestly I must say that I really thought they will finish each other off if time permits that to happen. And if that happens, the Moon is to be blamed.

Dangerous Paradise

".... And when Isaac was working tirelessly around the space, travelling from one place to another and working his shit out for Earth's sake, I am dreaming otherwise; I wished I could travel in space just like him. Some places in the universe are just beautiful and unique in their own ways; All I wanted is to sit down and look at the beauty of outer space, a nature's gift. And I just do not need to worry about anything. I will encourage Isaac to do the same, for he fought and worked so hard for his planet and everybody regardless of who they are. He deserves some real good rest."

- the girl who always wished for the impossible

The screenshot above is taken from a Dead Space 3 video walkthrough. Featuring the space outside a ship called Roanoke, it was where Isaac went to search for flight recorders so that he and his crew can return to Earth and make final attempts to stop the invasion of a new species. Once again, Isaac Clarke is Earth's hero, who selflessly tried to save Earth from being taken over by the Marker and its lackeys, and its habitants from being enslaved by the enemy.

Exam/Passion comes in first?

Wow oh wow. "Time flies when you least expect it to." The terrorising moments that I've been waiting for since the beginning of this year is finally here - the major exam that motivates us to fight hard, just for the sake of trying our best even though it's going to be a losing battle.

I worked hard, I must say. But the immense effort that I've put in doesn't seem to be enough to make me eligible to survive this war. I guess I'm just gonna wait till the judgement days to find out how good am I in understanding everything that are required to be understood in this semester.

Next Tuesday will be the beginning of doom for me. But even so... I am currently suffering from a dilemma of abandoning my priority for something less important for now, and one of those things is one of my part time passion - watching walkthroughs. And by watching wakthroughs, I'm talking about Dead Space 3 gaming walkthroughs. I am now more attentive towards watching walkthroughs instead of doing my revision, but I'll have time for both anyway.

Damn, I fell in love with the game ever since I watched the first video on YouTube a few days ago. I have been a fan of Dead Space stories and games, too bad that I only read the novel but not the games. But it doesn't matter, as long as I can still look for anything about it.

This time the player is called by his username HassanAlHajry. I have to thank him for taking his liberty of posting the game on YouTube for everyone who are anticipating to watch any of them, someone like me for this case. I wouldn't mind watching everything he uploaded, but that definitely takes time.

I love the music, the dialogue, the places, characters, weapons, enemies, everything featured in the game. This game strongly reminded me of Dino Crisis' first and second games. Despite the differences, I love all of them.

The photo above is taken by yours truly.

Turok 2: Seeds of Evil - Review

When I was young, I used to watch one of my siblings playing this game. Gosh there's so many places and stages and I couldn't even recall which one was which and which level I should be mentioning about when I needed to. When I grew older and become supposedly 'wiser', only then things started to make sense to me and I am able to catch up with the exact story line of the game. There are 6 levels/stages in this game, each of them are located in different places. Mind you, I really love all of them, every place looks so beautiful and idyllic! It becomes even more bizarre when these places are being infested by evil and selfish creatures.

The main character, Joshua Fireseed has to fight off all the bad guys in every level and complete his mission in order to proceed with the next one and ultimately, he will face the main antagonist, Primagen. In order to survive and to carry on with the game, gamers will also have to look for weapons, ammo, talismans and health restores which are all over the place in every level. To make it more realistic and terrifying, each level has their own theme songs, and I have to admire the composers, Darren Mitchell and Alberto Jose Gonzalez for the awesome and catchy musics. And kudos to the game creators for successfully making such an awesome game and giving us, the gamers and even viewers the opportunity to go through such thrilling gaming experience.

One of the things that I really love about this game is that the figures in certain part of the game are giving a deep and mysterious impression to the gamers and viewers, such as the things mentioned by the servants of the Oblivions as Turok faces them after he entered the fake portal in the first level. It's fun for me to decipher what the creatures are trying to say at times, as I'm attracted to their attitude and the nature of their kind in the game, and so I'm eager to find out what the creatures were trying to say to Joshua because I believe that these words hold clues to the future.

I happened to come across one of the gamers' site on YouTube and I have been a fan of his for playing the game with such amazing talents and tactics. MKTUROK117 is one of the best Turok 2: Seeds of Evil players I've seen so far; sometimes I saw him using a sniper's technique to hunt down the creatures, and most of the killings turned out to be successful. He also used the method of combining 2 weapons to kill a creature. He usually uses the charge dart rifle (a weapon which has the ability to electrocute a monster) and razor wind (having the similar usage and technique as of a boomerang) to kill any monster, depending on the strength of the creature as well. It all turned out well, and MKTUROK117 never failed to kill any creature when he uses this method. According to one of his written comments on one of his videos on YouTube, he actually trained his gaming skills by playing the game before he records and uploads his videos on YouTube. I will respect him for having the patience and initiative to practice playing the game just to record the best video for all of us to see and refer.

An epic video by MKTUROK117, featuring the last level/stage of the game, and he was battling with the Flesh Eaters, the servants of the Oblivion. MKTUROK117 was using the charge dart rifle according to the weapon in the screenshot.

So here's a video by MKTUROK117 himself, and apparently it features my favorite level/stage in the whole Turok 2: Seeds of Evil. Do enjoy.

For more info on the game itself, please visit Turok Wiki - Turok 2: Seeds of Evil.

Dead Space

I've been longing to get my hands on the Dead Space comic books and novels since last year. But due to the fact that I live at where everything is unavailable, I still don't have the books, let alone the video games. Although I'm not much of a comic book and science fiction book reader myself (not that I hate it either), I'm just thrilled by the horror that lies within the story line. And after I read through the plot of the first book, I thought I really need to have those comic books and novels.

Here's a trailer of the Dead Space Excavations, which I personally find it quite useful as a reference for a better understanding of the Dead Space story line.

Find out more in Dead Space.

Pictures credits to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.