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I am so, so, so, so, so very sorry?

I’ve delayed writing this for long enough. It’s past Octoberween and this need to be out NOW. This has taken me over a week to write…..

This has been the HARDEST write up I have ever done. Ever. Of all time. In the shortest of short histories of my personal rants and ravings as a virtual reality sociopath, this was the hardest. This was probably harder than writing stupid APA papers I had to write for medical courses I wish I didn’t waste my money on. This was probably harder than all the time wasting, sleep inducing, vomit swallowing, finger numbing, and blow-yours-brains-out tempting, paper write ups I had to do in high school on why I thought Shakespeare was an excellent writer.  This blog write up was so hard it actually made it feel like I was doing WORK. When my blog writings being to feel like WORK, WORK I’m not getting paid for, then I KNOW I’m in bad territory.  This is the kind of write up that virtually KILLS my interest in wanting to write ANYTHING for a very, very, very, very long time. Why? Because it’s about my number 1 choice for this year’s Halloween Gaming List, a game that has won huge amounts of praise and is said to raise the bar in current generation gaming. A game that shows you can still belt out a brand new IP late in a console’s life cycle and still be a major hit. A game that can transcend its mere shortcomings and seem like something totally new to the genre, a game that has one over the hearts and minds of many a gamer in the sheer awesomeness of it all.

A game that many forget (or don’t care) that has an Online Pass system attached to it: The very mark of death for me personally for any game to bear. A game that makes me swear I’d never touch it! To me it’s like a diseased riddled hooker, you couldn’t pay me enough to play with it!

And yet it was unavailable wasn’t it? Even now I’m delaying the inevitable. I’d rather write mindless dribble than go on and on about this game’s mindless dribble. Look! I’ve almost written a half a page of nonsense just to keep myself from writing the evitable.  I don’t want to write about this game. I don’t want to rank it as number 1 on this year’s Halloween Gaming list. But after reading all the reviews, hearing about its virtues and how it’s won so many awards, being told my other games to get off my self-righteous high horse and play the damnable game to others just being perplexed on why I’d rather crawl over broken glass with my fly unzipped than play this game, I had to give in and give it a shot. A shot I now regret given that it’s considered my number 1 game this year. Well I hope you’re all happy for I’m not. Sure the game is fun but I still doesn’t wash away my sin of betrayal to my personal cause. Like Judas was to Jesus, like Vince McMahon was to Bret Hart, like Eve was to Adam, like Brutus was to Caesar, like Nintendo was to Sony, like Obama was to the Constitution, like Bush was to privacy, like Alfred Redl was to Austria, like Harold ‘Paul’ Cole was to Britian, like The Rosenbergs were to the USA, like Mir Jafar was to India….

…. and once again I’m stalling again aren’t I damnit!

My point is that I am a traitor like them all, a traitor to my cause. So here it is let’s get it over with, my number 1 game for this year’s Halloween Gaming list is none other than *groan* The Last of Us for the PS3.

I am so, so sorry.

What can I say about this game that hasn’t already been said by so many others before me? Do I begin with how this game is indeed taking the survival horror genre into all new territory? Do I begin with how the characters feel as if they are real? Do I begin with the world you run around in? Or do I just keep it simple and speak of the controls that despite some of the stealth levels you have free reign to do as you see fit. But no instead I’ll go into how this series is able to transcend the formula that we’ve come to know with survival horror games. Perhaps this is the game that indeed shows that if one is able to overlook the use of Online Passes that you end up with a game that could only be possible with Online Pass attached to it. Perhaps I was all wrong when it comes to Online Pass Enabled games. Perhaps they are not all horrible because of them. I mean look at the likes of “Mortal Kombat”,” Batman: Arkham City” and “The Last of Us”. If this is the price we have to pay to get ungodly gaming goodness then perhaps it is a price I am willing to pay in regards to my personal convictions. Maybe if ALL games come with an Online Pass then there might be a chance that they’ll all be as transcendent like this game. “The Last of Us” is a sophisticated stylization of the very concept of an original Online Pass enabled game IP that shows that not all games are completely butchered to fit the needs of additional sales figures.

 

Perhaps I was indeed all wrong when it comes to Online Pass games. Maybe they are not all bad? I haven’t played any so how would I know? I guess you could say that by playing this game I have come to see the light that developers know what they are doing when the incorporate these concepts in our games. Who cares if we have to pay extra to a developer if a game is sold used? It’s their game so why not let them try to make an extra buck. If that is what it takes to get a game as wonderful, as beautiful, as transcending, as awe inspiring, as…

 

I’m sorry, I’m so very sorry. I can’t continue this farce any longer. Call it a trick or a treat or both but as much as I’d like to say I’ve chosen this game as my number 1 choice I’d be telling a lie. Though it was tempting I just couldn’t bring myself to pick it up and buy “The Last of Us”. I don’t care how awesome this game is, if it has Online Pass it has no place in what little gaming time I have allotted to me. Halloween Gaming or no! I know many would probably figure this game had to be on the list given it’s the talked about game of this year. Sadly I’m not like most people that are able to be won over by what this game has to offer. No instead I thought I’d take a totally different approach in choosing my number 1 game.  At first I wasn’t sure myself given all the games I’ve covered thus far. What game could possibly be able to stand toe-to-toe with “The Last of Us.” It had to be a game that was just as galvanizing, so critically polarizing, so mold breaking, so unconventional that it had to be a game that made itself known by being so horrible wrong in almost every department. And yet despite it being all wrong, when it’s put altogether it somehow turns out right. It may not be a good game, it may not be a great game, it may not be able to compare to “The Last of Us” but I’d pick this game over that game anytime. It was like as if a PREMONITION came over me. Hopefully one that won’t be DEADLY to me like to so many others when it came to giving this game such high marks, as if it was a DIRECTOR making the final CUT to his final scene and saying it was good….

Did you see what I did there? For my Top 11 Halloween Games of 2013, Game number 1 is none other than Deadly Premonition: Director’s Cut for the PS3!

 

GTFO of here “The Last of Us”!

I’ll come out and say this right now for all to read: I would rather play Deadly Premonition: Director’s Cut than play “The Last of Us.”

 

I missed out in playing this game when it came out on the Xbox 360. I didn’t think much of it at the time. I did watch a few Let’s Plays of this game if only to see if it was true that the game’s graphics looked like something straight from a Dreamcast titled. For me that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. So when the chance came for me to give this “Director’s Cut” a chance I went for it. And why not? Does not “The Last of Us” have just as a simplistic story than this game does?  For a game that is so radical in its approach to gaming, the plot itself is rather simplistic: you play the part of a loopy FBI agent who travels to a quirky town to investigate a murder that is similar to others he’s investigated before. Upon arriving you begin to see how off the residents are as well as beginning to unravel the mystery as more are murdered, the town’s dark secret is revealed with Agent “York” eventually revealing the culprit to be someone few (including the player) would even suspect.

So why does this make my list as number 1? Well for starters despite word that the graphics are bad; I really didn’t find them to be such. Dated yes, not current gen yes, not even polishes yes but for me the graphics didn’t look that bad. They were passable for me in being able to enjoy it. And after playing prior titles on this year’s Halloween Gaming list, this game fits right at home in the graphics department. Though there is some slowdown that’s mostly due to the action on screen, action and slowdown I can oddly live with along with the frame rate.

The enemies are your typical affair you’d find in any other psychological horror game. I’m told in this game the enemies don’t take as much damage like they use to so gunning them down wasn’t a chore like before. I found myself being able to take them out without any issue, control wise or camera angle wise. In fact I was able to do such with no trouble at all with the “infinite ammo” setting set as default. You’d think I would’ve been dismayed by this but I found that to be a welcome addition if only so that I could progress into the weird setting for this game.

I hear people say that you have to have an open mind to be able to appreciate this game; wise words that usually don’t fit me well given how I at times can be closed minded when it comes to certain aspects of gaming (Don’t believe me, just re-read the beginning of this blog in regards to Online Pass). But after experiencing prior games with a similar setting (be it technical or story wise) like “Alan Wake”, “Onechanbara”, “Carrier” and  to some extents the original “Resident Evil”, “Deadly Premonition doesn’t seem that far off the beaten path in comparison. I know that maybe hard to believe but that’s the vide I got from the game when I played it.

 

That is until I was faced with the hallucination/alternate reality settings to this game that just made me scratch my head in a good way. Almost ever set piece of the game just doesn’t seem to fit together yet in the end that’s the reason why this game makes it my number 1 game this year. This game has character, it has a soul, and it has a feeling going for it that just isn’t as felt with some of the other titles that’s been on this list before. Sure those games are considered better in all aspects from their graphics, controls, pacing, music and theme. And yet when it comes to this game and the lack thereof with the previously mentioned items above, this game is still able to deliver a unique and memorable experience for my Octoberween gaming. It’s one of the hardest things to describe for this kind of write up in having this game as number 1. I’ve heard people compare it to a Resident Evil 4 knock off with GTA-like inspired open world events and side missions. But for me the best way to describe my experience is from a scene for the cult classic British sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf.

It’s the scene were David Lister introduces the triple fried egg sandwich with chili sauce and chutney to his bunkmate Arnold Rimmer. David said he learned of the recipe from a book on bacteriological warfare given how the creation of such a sandwich was mostly done as hangover food, a sandwich that was best eaten quickly before the bread dissolves. The thing is though after Rimmer tried out this sandwich, and said he felt like he was having a baby after digesting a bite, he was surprised how good it tasted after the fact. He said that despite the sandwich being all wrong with its ingredients; it oddly somehow was all right regardless that “It's like a cross between food and bowel surgery.”

 

That’s the feeling I got when I played Deadly Premonition: Director’s Cut; the ingredients to making this game was all wrong yet put together it’s somehow right. Not great, not perfect and at times a bit painful to stomach but good just the same. Everything from the quirkiness of the townsfolk of Greenvale to the outright silliness of the enemies you face. From the grotesqueness of the murders you find to the wackiness of Agent York’s prattling toward “Zach”. Even the aspect of you having to make sure you properly groom yourself to maintaining your cars for travel is so off the wall yet it somehow fits with the survival horror elements of this game. It may be a rip off of Resident Evil 4 with GTA-inspired exploration wrapped in a “Twin Peaks” shell but with that kind of pedigree how can this NOT be a fun Halloween game. It can be played in regular intervals or for the long haul if one feels up for it. Enemies can be creepy, the murder mystery is compelling with some true horror scenes and the all-out quirky cast add more than your typical survival horror game. Compared to “The Last of Us” this game shouldn’t be on this list, yet despite the stark differences between the two “Deadly Premonition: Director’s Cut” wins out this year.

Love it or hate it this is the reason why I’ve chosen this game as number 1 for this year’s Halloween Gaming list. It may have its negatives, and I mean A LOT of negatives. Though the only ones that really bother me is the fact that despite this being a “Director’s Cut” they still have the gall to offer an “Ultimate Edition” that offers all the DLC that should’ve been put in the “Director’s Cut” of this game. Also this game is now getting the distinction of being consider “games as art” and I hate games that it gets that kind of recognition. Despite all of this I still stand with my decision. It has the survival horror mixed with psychological terror all wrapped up into a cheesy center of character goodness. Much like my family reunions actually....

Out of all the games I bought for this year’s list, this one was the priciest at $30 used. Only go for this if you’re in the right mindset for it. If not then it’s best to wait for this game to drop by 50% in price. Or just go for the original release on Xbox 360 though the Director’s Cut does fix some issues like the toughness of enemies, no screen filter and a better framing device for the plot. In the end I was glad to have chosen this game instead of the “other” title that could’ve been. But given the choice between “Twin Peaks”-like inspired and “Children of Men” –like inspired plots I’ll take “Twin Peaks” any day.

Suck it “The Last of Us”.

My Top 11 Halloween Games for 2013

#11) Resistance Retribution – PSP: $8 used.

#10) The X-Files Video Game – PSOne: $10 used.

#09) Corpse Killer – Sega CD 32X: $14 used.

#08) Doom 64 – Nintendo 64: $14 used.

#07) Castlevania Judgment – Nintendo Wii: $5 used.

#06) The Last of Us Folklore – PS3: $20 used.

#05) Resident Evil 2 – Nintendo 64: $14 used.

#04) Calling – Nintendo Wii: $20 used.

#03) Carrier – Sega Dreamcast: $5 used.

#02) Silent Hill 3 – Playstation 2: $14 used

#01) The Last of Us Deadly Premonition: Director’s Cut – PS3: $30 used.

Final total: $154

I hope you call enjoyed this year’s write ups of my Top 11 Halloween Games for 2013. Sorry for the feint out with #01. I could go into detail on why this took so long to write but I fear that would take up another six pages in trying to explain the trials and tribulations I had to go thru with it. Probably best left unsaid for another time so until then I hope you enjoyed my personal sharing of “Octoberween” in all the forms I take part in.  Here’s to next year, that is if there will be a next year…

Ta-ta

“N”