Crew Expendable

Hello again world! Am I the most inconsistent blogger in the world? Probably! Nonetheless, here I am once more. I do fully mean for this blog to become a regular thing - once I find a nice balance between working on my various writing projects / actual paying work / and thinking of interesting topics to talk about I'll be here much more often.

Before we begin, allow me to shamelessly plug the amazing anthology my first short story was recently published in. Www.daylightdims.com - feel free to peruse the snazzy website, learn more about the anthology, and if you feel so inclined head on over to Amazon and pick up a copy - what's Halloween without great horror literature after all?

Now on to the matter at hand. I am an experienced veteran of the Horror genre - this includes nearly every medium from books and movies to video games and the like. Being truly scared while reading/watching/playing is not something that happens often these days - movies that people swear gave them nightmares for weeks leave me with nothing but a sense of wasted time and money. My fiance and I both have been long seeking something to feed the old horror furnace, but until recently nothing has caught fire.

Sure, movies such as The Conjuring were enjoyable and a little creepy at times - but scary? I'd have to say no. The last true movie to deeply frighten me and leave an indelible mark upon my soul that no amount of time will remove was Antichrist directed by the somewhat controversial Lars von Trier. If you are expecting a glowing recommendation of the film then I am sad to say you will not find one here. I can appreciate the beauty of the movie and the talent behind what I saw - but I am not lying when I say that film may have actually bitten off a piece of my soul never to be seen again. One thing is certain though, I will never be able to look at Willem Dafoe in the same light ever again. If this post piques your curiosity I am warning you, with as much gravity that I can muster, that the things you will see are truly disturbing. Now, I'm going to push on before my mind is completely taken over by the images I can still recall with crystal clear clarity from the movie.

Being October I find it only natural to talk about horror and all things macabre - though once more my discussion finds its roots in the depths of outer space in a world created by Ridley Scott.

Yes yes, I know - yet ANOTHER attempt to form a playable experience out of one of (if not my favorite) sci-fi horror franchises. Why you ask, why would I even give the title a second glance after the botched monstrosity that was Aliens: Colonial Marines? Well...this is why.

Finally, the perfect scenario. No huge guns, no horrible attempts to match the macho playfulness of space marines, and seemingly no hope of survival - much like our friend the Xenomorph, to me this title is perfection.

The story (I can't spoil anything even if I wanted to as I've been playing for hours and still have not gotten past the first few meetings with our Xenomorph pal without a giant spiked tail through my sternum) follows Ripley's daughter, Amanda, in between the first and second films. Naturally, when one's mother goes missing in space on a routine salvage mission you would be curious as to where she went. For those of us that have seen Alien in all of its glory, well we know what happened. After an offer from some higher ups, Amanda is given the opportunity to accompany a small crew in the hopes of discovering exactly what happened to her mother and the crew of the missing ship the Nostromo.

First of all, what makes this game scary? Well, where to begin. I purchased the title on Xbox One (against my better judgement) and was pleasantly surprised to see how the Kinect was used to enhance the experience. The Kinect not only tracks your head movement (allowing you to peek around corners and over objects in order to scare the shit out of yourself) it also detects noise in the room. Allow me to explain.

I sit crouched behind some type of metallic alloy crate. Somewhere around me the hissing breath of the alien echoes - it knows I'm near. I constantly steal glances at the ceiling, this isn't my first rodeo - I know the bastard can crawl on ceilings, but I see no threats. Tink...tink...tink....shhhhhhh - the sound of sharp chitinous claws on metal, and the telltale scrape of that horrific tail - it's getting closer. I hold my breath and hold down the button that allows the Kinect to transfer my head motion onto the screen, I peek over the stack of crates - OHSHITTHEREITIS. I release the button, crouching back behind the boxes, my heart hammering in my chest. Like I said though, this isn't my first rodeo and just like in every game if I wait long enough it'll wander off. I smile to myself, restoring some sense of calm - just play it cool daddy-o. Oh no. My right nostril twitches. Not now. I clamp a hand over my nose, my face contorts as I fight a sneeze. No no no no no no no no nonooooooACHHOOOO!! In a nightmarish blur of speed and mind shattering shrieks the Alien vanishes, it's over. Before I can even make a break for it I can hear it breathing behind me, I can imagine the long strings of saliva dangling from one of its many fanged mouths. A black clawed hand obscures my view and a spiked tail tears through my chest. Game over man...game over.

While there are various tools and even guns you came across during the title, standing and fighting your alien adversary is not advisable - take a pipe to all the people you want, but mess with the big dog and you get eaten. The feeling of utter helplessness in the face of such an overwhelming enemy makes this game a one of a kind experience. Where other games (such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent) have tread down a similar path, the focus here is completely on the environment and the experience.

Unlike the bastardized version of Aliens in Aliens: Colonial Marines - this game actually does look THAT good when you play it. No bait and switch here, play this game on a big enough television and you'll swear you could walk right into any hallway pictured before you. The ambiance is perfect, the sound is perfect, the lighting is perfect, hell even the horrifically difficult learning curve is perfect. This is not a game to play if you want to feel powerful, if you're the type that can only get by with a mini gun in his hands and endless ammo then you will not enjoy your stay here. You are going to die, you are going to forget to save and you are going to die. There are even streams of the game on Hard mode going just to see how long someone lasts during the first confrontation with the beast, spoiler alert - no one lasts long. 

I'm currently playing on medium, a difficulty level I usually ignore due to my long history of game playing - but here the beast confounds me at every turn. Every careful plan and every stealthy maneuver only seems to land me in the horrible arms of my hunter. 

If true survival-horror is your bag, then look no further. If you can put up with dying repeatedly without throwing a temper tantrum and enjoy being part of a truly terrifying atmosphere, then this is the right derelict space-station for you. Now, I believe I have an elevator to attempt to sneak into....