The Countdown Horror Obscura – Day 6: Resident Evil Gaiden
Day 6: Resident Evil Gaiden
Resident Evil Gaiden is very much the misunderstood step child of the Resident Evil series. Capcom likes to put it in the corner along with its other B-list Resident Evil titles like Operation Raccoon City and Mercenaries 3D and pretend they just don’t really exist. Unfortunately like a lot of Capcoms other industry mistakes some of us can’t forget the past. I for one feel Resident Evil Gaiden is a portable title that though flawed, brings a unique take on the series formula with incredibly restricted hardware.
So stop me if you haven’t heard this one from the Resident Evil series: you play as a anti-Umbrella agent who intercepts a passenger ship on the sea and soon finds it has been overrun by monsters. Well before the series copied its own idea literally twice in Dead Aim and Revelations, Gaiden was the game that some would consider the genesis of Resident Evil’s small obsession with campaigns on a boat. The agent you play is the greatest character from the series Barry Burton. Except now you finally get to play as this beard faced hunk of manliness. I am aware he’s also recently and finally been allowed to have his own campaign in Revelations 2 but Resident Evil Gaiden was for the longest time the only way for Burton fans to get their fix of the man with the best one liners in the series history. Anyway, back to the game. Barry is basically on the ship to find Leon Kennedy but along the way he comes across a young girl who seems to be the only survivor of this horror as well as a B.O.W who has the ability to morph into human form. One of the main reasons I think Gaiden is absolutely fantastic and I wish this was an actual cannon to the Resident Evil story is because of how it ends. If you really don’t want a pinnacle part of the plot to be spoiled for you then I advise you to skip the following paragraph because I’m about to explain the ending.
Podcast: Scared Stupid
This week Fred and Jam (along with the chat and community) share the games that scared the crap out of them.
The Countdown Horror Obscura – Day 5: Manhunt
Day 5: Manhunt
Manhunt is a game that I feel to this day I have to tread very carefully when I discuss it. This was one of the very few titles that was actually banned in the UK due to a very unfortunate link to a horrific news story which I will not be discussing in this article. With that short intro out the way lets get into why I’m featuring this title in the Horror Obscura.
I view Manhunt as a title in time with those gore fest films like Saw only a lot worse. Manhunt is a game that is really uncomfortable to play. For starters you don’t even play the good guy, you take control as James Earl Cash who is a pawn in a game where he is directed by a psychopath known as “The Director,” to brutally murder members of gangs and other crazy people. This game is incredibly dark and not for everyone. There are no redeeming qualities to Cash either. He is bad, he kills without remorse and even when he does meet support characters he has no interest in making friends. This is a rare video game that forces you down the dark path. If you are able to get past this you will actually be in for quite an impressive stealth title.
The Countdown Obscura Horror – Day 4: The Immortal
Day 4: Will Harvey presents The Immortal
Back in the early 90s my brothers and I were playing happily on our Mega Mega Drive (Genesis) with happy jolly games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage and Road Rash. Nothing scary there, right? Then we were given this little game called The Immortal. I’m not even entirely sure how we came to acquire it, I mean it was probably purchased for one of my older brother as a gift but my theory was it had appeared in the scary abyss that was our loft in a sorta “Book Of the Dead” like discovery. I remember the cover alone of this game scaring the hell out of me. It’s a skeleton like Grim Reaper with a horrific grin on his face as he cuts up the title of the game with his scythe.
Things weren’t much better for me when attempting to boot this game up as a young lad. The first screen you are greeted to is that scary skeleton again only this time his eyes are glowing red because that’s really helping with the fear factor. Keep in mind at this stage there were no age restrictions introduced on video games so with me being the curious young lad I was, I insisted on continuing forward. What I soon realized was, I was playing as a Gandalf like wizard who is running through dungeons where literally everything wants to kill him, and it was terrifying.
The Countdown Obscura Horror – Day 3: The Suffering
Day 3: The Suffering
A prison, what an ideal location for horror and dread. Several games have visited this locale, the most infamous being Batman’s Arkham series and the recent Prison Simulator on PC, a game I’m surprised was not released 2 years ago. When it comes to horror Surreal Software took the prison as there main location and created something special with the 2004 release of The Suffering.
Watch Right Now: Kombat Kids
Fellow All Games personality and extremely freaking talented friend of the show Ted Bracewell has created magic. It’s called Kombat Kids and as you may have guessed, it’s Mortal Kombat in animated kid form. I can’t tell you enough how great this show is and it features voices of many fellow podcast friends and guests. Drop what you’re doing and watch it now.
The Countdown Obscura Horror – Day 2: Master of Darkness
DAY 2: Master of Darkness
The Sega Master System how I do love this 8 bit system. You know poor Sega never got Castlevania until the Mega Drive/Genesis so it was up developer SIMS (Soft development Innovation Multi Success) to fill that void. How this developer is still going to this day I don’t know, but I’m going to boldly state that Master of Darkenss is the best game this company developed. Other honourable mentions include the Dreamcast port of House of the Dead 2 and the best fishing game ever, Sega Bass Fishing on the Dreamcast and later the Wii.
Now before you Americans shout at me and say, “its actually called Vampire: Master of Darkness,” I will politely remind you that in Europe the “Vampire” part was removed. Maybe because of censorship, similar to how Ninja Gaiden turned into Shadow Warrior, but this is not always clear. Vampires were scary guys in the 90s (so were ninjas for that matter). In Japan this game was In the Wake of Vampire and it also came out on Game Gear.
The Countdown Obscura Horror – Day 1: Extermination
Introduction
As a countdown to the that inevitable spooky day I wanted to release a series of articles showcasing horror games that deserve some attention. This will include some new, some old, some obscure and possibly even some you haven’t even thought of before.
Even though I live in the UK and Halloween is another American holiday that has sneakily invaded this region I absolutely love horror in film and especially gaming. I always felt horror in gaming is far more effective as you are usually put in a vulnerable position that you are in control of. In film its hard to do horror well as you’re of course watching other people, but that is maybe an article for discussion at a later date. So enjoy this little mini series of some horror games I feel deserve your attention.
Day One: Extermination
I really wanted to start with a game I think many may not have heard of, and if you did your probably thinking “what, that terrible launch PS2 title?” Yes fictitious internet nerd, that one.
Podcast: Zombies!
Zombies have grown in popular culture to be bigger than a theme, but rather a genre in and of itself. That wasn’t always the case, however, and despite the fact that zombies are a common enemy in video games they weren’t always so commonplace and rejected. Fred and Jam dive head first into the history and development of zombies in video games.
Friday At The Movies: Critters
Video games and movies, you would think the two would go hand-in-hand, but unfortunately given that the film medium is a passive experience and the gaming medium is an active experience, the hybrid of the two usually goes horribly (and laughably) wrong. This segment will be our weekly realm to appreciate the more “classic” medium of film.
The horror movie has been around almost as long as movies themselves. Looking back in history initial footage of a railroad coming at a camera shocked and scared audiences to death and probably one of the most famous silent films of all times is horror film Nosferatu. As film grew up the genre of horror began to move in a different direction where many times to appease the audience there would be instances of comedy or teenagers would spend the whole movie making fun of it as a defense mechanism. What I love so much about the 80s is that everything is made fun and carefree, including horror movies, and you get these hybrid horror comedy films. It is into this environment that we get one of my personal favorites: Critters. Directed by the great Stephen Herek (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitters Dead) Critters tells the tale of a small rural town plagued by a race of fuzzball creatures that like to roll around everywhere and eat everything in their path.
Gaming History 101 