I need a "KILL KILL KILL" icon

[trinityvixen]

I popped into a GameStop over Christmas break to browse, saw a copy of The Darkness XBOX 360 game for $8 and I couldn't pass it up. It's funny: feiran downloaded the demo back when it first came out, we were both unimpressed, but still I was always tempted when I'd see it in the store. When it was $18, I still couldn't bring myself to buy it. But at $8? Hell, I bought The Powerpuff Girls: Relish Revenge for that much!

Was it a great game? No. Decidedly not. Was it a good enough game? Absolutely. Part of the fun, obviously, is getting to be The Darkness. Like getting to be a Jedi (more on that in a minute), it's far too much fun to pass up. feiran actually introduced me to the comic, and I confess I loved it better than the Witchblade stuff I'd been enjoying at the time. It's just more fun in general (and more funny). The Darkness is so powerful, Jackie Estacado is a bastard but good, and did I mention the Darkness is AWESOME? The ability to make anything you wish out of nothing? How can you pass that up?

The game did have that going for it. I got to use my Darklings to rip, shoot, explode, and electrocute bad guys, and my Darkness aura had like snake monsters (okay, maybe they were tentacles) that could shoot out and kill people and also eat their hearts to make me more powerful. Gameplay was a mother, though. I had better control over creatures that scaled walls and such when I played the PC Aliens vs Predator back in, like, 1997. The ending was almost the worst non-ending, non-boss fight I'd ever played. (The winner of that category is still Mysteries of the Sith.) Still, it was fun while it lasted. (I GOT TO BE THE DARKNESS. NO SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS.)

One thing about the story: It wasn't the one of the original comic. It was something else, one either based on a reboot of the franchise (there have been a few) or as a new reboot itself. For whatever reason, I ended up in some place not quite but entirely unlike Hell, with decor of World War I trenches by way of Hellraiser. I fought Germans. Germans with metallic protrusions sticking out of their heads that the Borg would find uncomfortable. I also committed suicide. Twice. Yeah, I don't quite get that either. The guy doing the voice work of The Darkness was appropriately creepy, if maddeningly inconsistent about what it wanted. If only Jackie had been similarly well done. Character graphic design was on a level with something like Max Payne, which is an old game, and whatever technical improvements there were, they were still Uncanny Valley moments everywhere. And his voice? Ugh, I think there were fewer abuses of goombah accents in that horrible Doctor Who episode, "Daleks in Manhattan."

And now I'm finally onto Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which I've only had since FOREVER. It appeals to me immensely. For one thing, it's not too terribly hard at the level I'm at, which is good because I suck at video games. For another, I enjoy the throwback to the original idea for Luke by calling the main character Starkiller. (Very nice touch, LucasArts.) There's also the part where I GET TO BE A JEDI. Well, sorta. I mean, I am evil. But before Lucas made up the Sith out of nowhere, back in the good old Dark Forces/Jedi Knight days, evil Jedi were...Dark Jedi, end of story. (They were also bad mother-fuckers. Look at their fucking leader!)

So yeah, I've gone from being a murderous, vengeance-driven force of Hell to being a murderous, Sith-driven force of Darth Vader. Me likey. As I told moonlightalice, there's nothing about this I don't like. I killed Wookies. MERCILESSLY. I threw things into Stormtroopers and Rebels alike. I may or may not have just choked random dudes who were the last survivors in a given area just to watch them struggle and die. I even like the sexed-out lady pilot who drives my ship, although I all but fell out when she opened her mouth and was not voiced by Tricia Helfer. (I mean, look at her. Tell me there's not a strong resemblance!) But hoo-hoo aaaalllright. Sexy lady pilot!

Comments

[ladyelysium.livejournal.com]

I thought The Darkness was a great game - I loved the "little" things they done with it. For example, when you visit your girlfriend for the first time and she falls asleep on your lap watching To Kill a Mockingbird on the TV? Yeah, I sat and watched the whole freakin' movie IN A GAME! I also found the loading screen scenes to be pretty adorable too.

The ending was disappointing, but there are rumours about a sequel that sorta follows the line of the comic, where Jackie goes to Hell to rescue whats-her-face.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Don't get me wrong, I loved all the little touches. My favorite character ended up being Aunt Sarah. She was fabulous. The loading screens were repetitive after a while, but at least they were something to do in the end.

Speaking of the end, yeah, I just...yeah. You didn't really fight the dudes at the house. You had to get the front lawn cleared and then it sorta but not really took over in fits and spurts. Maybe that's better on hard mode? I dunno. Then with Uncle Paulie, I sort of expected that maybe I could choose not to kill him. I didn't want to have my soul devoured by the Darkness or nothing. I also expected someone still talking to me to have some sort of natural end point to his speech, not that he would end it abruptly and shoot me. Yep, had to do THAT over again! ::headdesk::

(Still, not as bad as Mysteries of the Sith because there was some fighting at least in that last battle. I didn't battle my way through a freaky jungle to confront my Jedi Master who'd gone over to the Dark Side with my massive array of weapons, ammo, force powers and my goddamned lightsabre just to put it away and give up in order to beat him. NOT COOL, LUCASARTS.)

But would I play a sequel? Oh fuck yeah. I dunno where we went in WWI-land if that wasn't Hell, but I'd go back there. It was just out there enough for me to go, "Fuckin' A, this is freakish and I'm good with that." Then again, I always loved Silent Hill when the town turned into a giant, moldering factory, too. And I had waaaaaay too much fun eating hearts. I used to play Aliens vs Predator almost exclusively as the Alien. You ripped people apart and ate them to restore your health. I get a perverse joy from seeing people freak the F out when I come slashing at them to use their vital organs for my food.)

OMG SOMEONE ELSE LIKES THE DARKNESS! No, really, I don't do comic fandom online. I'm far to casual about it to go trolling about, so to run into people who enjoy the things I do online is awesome. I really, really loved that comic, even when it got weird and rebooted only different and... well, whatever, it doesn't matter because did I mention The Darkness IS AWESOME?

[equustel.livejournal.com]

STARKILLER. He kind of turns me into a flaily fangirl; I blame Sam Witwer. And lol yes, Six is the first thing I thought of when I first saw Juno. Also: JUNO ECLIPSE? I will never get over that name.

I was actually surprised by how... accurate the portrayal of Vader and Palpatine's relationship is in the game. I mean, despite being shoehorned into the canon, the story actually works in context with their characters. So much so that I was once driven to fic it, and still might someday.

Especially since the sequel is in the works and it looks SO BADASS. This is the most exciting EU to come out of the Lucas machine in yeaaaarrss. Glad you're enjoying!

[ladyelysium.livejournal.com]

The worst ending for me had to be the ending to Bioshock - Not only did you do sweet fuck all in the boss "battle", but the ending itself wasn't even a cinematic, just a bunch of photos displayed in the same way a person would do a shitty Power Point presentation. So, so, so disappointing.

I absolutely LOVED devouring the hearts, so much so I remember calling my Mum into the living room (I lived at home back when I first played it) and told her to watch the cute little monsters! :D The Darklings were pretty sweet too, did you get all of the outfits for them?

Haha, I'm a huuuuuge nerd and do love me some games & graphic novels. Always great to meet a fellow nerd ;]

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

My friend accosted me with "YOU MUST PLAY THIS DEMO. THEY MADE THIS GAME FOR YOU" one day. She was totally right. I bought it ages ago, but because of school, I just hadn't wanted to get into it because I knew I'd love it too much to ever put it down.

AND I DOOOOOOO!!!!

Also, lol, I played the demo, and as I did, I was like, "Starkiller looks a lot like that guy from Battlestar. He's on Smallville, too." I looked it up when I was done and my friend was appalled. She was all, "Your scary IMDB brain applies to video games!?" I don't see what the fuss was about. It looks just like him. And he did the voice, so yeah! Nyah! Glad I'm not the only one who saw Six in Juno. (LOVED that name. I just looked up the game on Wikipedia to find her. I didn't remember the name. I just remember the HUMINA HUMINA HUMINA entrance she made because I laughed forever before I choked when she wasn't Tricia Helfer.) Looking at pictures online, I see that close-up shots reveal she is not, in fact, a Six, but you'd be hard-pressed to say as much in a full body shot. (It's the nose. She has the nose.)

I look forward to enjoying the story. I really, really loved Jedi Knight back in the day, with all its cheesy filmed scenes. (Kyle Katarn can leave crumbs in my bed any day, 's what I'm saying.) The only thing holding those games back was that there was a definite bias in favor of being good. You just had better abilities. My friend cagexxx used to call it THE BALL OF DEATH when, as a good Jedi, you could make yourself invisible with a force field ball around you to protect you that you could see. So no one could hurt you and they couldn't see you to try even if they wanted to. (Whereas the Dark Jedi had mostly useless Force choke/lightning/destruction that didn't do enough and went away if you were hit.) The Force Unleashed is all COME WITH ME AND I WILL SHOW YOU THE TRUE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE and I'm all "YES PLEASE!!"

I haven't actually watched the trailer they had for the sequel because I don't want spoilers. Even if the story were to end "And the Starkiller just became a plumber, the end," I don't want to know. I'm enjoying it, it's Dynasty Warriors meets Star Wars and FUCK YESSSSS I love it!

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

BioShock had a slightly nothing ending, though the last boss battle seemed pretty tough. (I didn't play. My roommate and I have this bizarre, unspoken arrangement where I tend to play games or she does. It's the rare game we both end up playing.) I'm hoping for more from the next one. I forgave a little because I think it was so successful at wooing me with the twist. I might be one of those types who never sees twists coming, but that one totally threw me. But as far as an end goes, yeah, it was anti-climactic. (Though not as bad as Assassin's Creed. So far, II seems to be improving on that, but AC left me going "Whaaa...?")

I liked the ickle snakeys so much. When they'd fight, I would tell them to share, babies. Then my roommate would give me a funny look and remind me that these were video game monsters not our cats. I couldn't help it. They were cute! Especially the black hole ones. So smilely! (THERE IS SOMETHING SO WRONG WITH ME.) I tut-tutted at the Berserker peeing on people though. Couldn't he just get the eyes, like in the comic? Whatevs! No, I didn't get all the outfits. I was thinking I could do another run through on harder mode (it wasn't too, too hard on normal) and try to get all the achievements on single player (I'm not a multiplayer type).

I will end this post with: YAY NERDS.

[ladyelysium.livejournal.com]

I think the ending of AC was meant to be quite anti-climatic, especially seeing how the beginning of the second game was quite literally picking up from where you left off in the first game. I can't waaaaaaait for Bioshock 2 to come out, not long to go now :D

I loved it when the demon-arm-things would fight over a heart. Or when one would throw it up into the air and catch it. D'aww :3

I wasn't fond of the multiplayer aspect of the game, mainly because it was always dead :(

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

This is the year of the video game sequel--BioShock 2, Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Dead Rising 2, possibly Dead Space 2. Unlike with movies, I'm actually pleased and excited by this. Because these were great games with a lot more world-building or spin-off potential. I can't wait for any of them. (I'm rocking back and forth in my seat, sitting-on-my-hands-to-keep-them-away-from-the-spoilers excited about Mass Effect 2.)

Aw, Demonsnakeys. So cute. It helps that I think regular snakes are adorable, I suppose. But these are especially cute. I am also weird. (Have I mentioned?) My first thought when I see a great white shark on TV is "PUPPEH!!!!"

True story about multiplayer: I suck at it. I don't even play board games on XBOX Live. It's not safe for me. I tried playing every species of Predator, Alien, or human back when Aliens vs Predator 2 came out. My average lifespan was 6 seconds? Maybe?

[ladyelysium.livejournal.com]

This is going to be a better year than last year when it comes to being an Xbox gamer - On top of the ones you mentioned, I am also looking forward to Splinter Cell Conviction, Alan Wake, FFXIII, Fable 3, Fallout New Vegas, Batman: Arkham Asylum 2, Aliens vs. Predator (yup, a new game!)... And there are probably more that I've forgotten. Games like Dante's Inferno and Bayonetta will probably be on a "rent only" list.

My poor bank account is crying out in pain already.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I can't believe I forgot Arkham Asylum 2! To that already huge list, I have to add Lego Harry Potter, which I've been begging for years now. I think the way to do this is to trade off purchases with my roommate until she goes to medical school. THEN THE XBOX WILL BE MINE! Ahem.

[ladyelysium.livejournal.com]

Daniel (the husband) and I are very bad for each other when it comes to buying games because we both would happily sacrifice a month of good food for some video game purchases. We need to change, but 2010 is looking to be a great time to be a gamer!

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I made up for it last year. I was so good, didn't buy many games (there weren't many to covet, really), and I got through some of my backlog on games. Surely that means dropping ::looks at list:: $500 on games is acceptable this year?

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

This is the most exciting EU to come out of the Lucas machine in yeaaaarrss

No, I'm sorry, you're wrong. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I will never forgive that series for the movie it unleashed. "Sky guy," dude. SKY GUY.

[equustel.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, my brother and I had the best time with the Kyle Katarn games. Back then, half the fun was how cheesy video games still were when they tried to be serious, so I remember us laughing ourselves silly at Jedi Master Luke speaking wretchedly voiced platitudes with his hands behind his back, all polygonal and awkward. But yes, Kyle was a badass and a half. Aw, what I'd give for a crappy PC to relive those on!

You'll thank yourself for avoiding spoilers on this one, and then you'll probably join the rest of the internets going "WTF?" over the sequel teaser. But I'm so excited. 2010 is going to be a great year for gaming.

(If it weren't for someone on my f-list developing a brief crush on Mr. Witwer, I'd still have no idea who he is. BTW, did you notice that he actually voices the Emperor in the game, too?)

[equustel.livejournal.com]

I still haven't gotten around to watching the series, but I actually don't consider it EU, since Lucas is the one who initiated it.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Oh man, those old games are why I'll never go entirely Mac. It's worth keeping around a cheap-o laptop to play 'em on.

2010 is going to be an awesome year for gaming. I've already got carpal tunnel from just trying to finish a couple of games before the new game onslaught.

(Sam Witwer isn't my type, though I admit to going, "Thanks for that" to the episode of Smallville where he was in the shower. Yeah, okay, not a great actor, not even all that pretty--to me--but I'd watch him take his shirt off, sure. There's also the fact that he, like Mark Sheppard, is totally invading every show I watch. If either of the two of them doesn't make it into the last season of LOST, I'll be very much surprised. And no, I didn't know he did the Emperor's voice. Haven't met the Emperor yet! Now I will forever have to wonder if I would have noticed on my own!)