Ghostbusters

Horror turns to Comedy, spoilers ahead...

OK, So it's not really a Survival Horror but it has ghosts in it and as a huge Ghostbusters fan I thought it my duty to review it here.

2009 marks the 25th Anniversary of the first film (released 1984) and to mark to occasion a whole lot of Ghostbuster stuff has been going off. The original films have been remastered and released as Blu-Ray discs, a new film is in the works and Ghostbusters the video game was released.
Usually games made from a film franchise aren't exactly gaming classics but this game was always due to be different. Not only was the game written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, who were the writers for the original films but Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson joined them in lending their voices to the project. Other stars of notable talent include Annie Potts (Janine Melnitz), Brian Doyle Murray (Mayor Mulligan), William Atherton (Walter Peck) and Alyssa Milano (Ilyssa Selwyn).

The story takes part in 1991, three years after the events of Ghostbusters and sees the return of the Sumerian God, Gozer. You play as a new recruit to the Ghostbusting team who is never named throughout the game and your job is to act as the Guinea pig for Rays and Egon's new equipment.
The game starts off with Ray and the gang telling you about your role until ghostbusters regular, Slimer breaks loose from the containment grid. Your attempt at catching Slimer is the basis of the training part of the game where Ray trains you in the use the Proton Pack and the traps. Slimer escapes though and leads the Ghostbusters to Hotel Sedgwick where Slimer was caught in the first film all the way back in 1984.

Dr Ilyssa Selwyn who is an expert in the Sumerian culture lends a hand as well as forming the love interest for Peter Venkman throughout the game.
Walter Peck now works for the Paranormal Contract Oversight Committee (P-COC) and the Mayor of New York has ordered him to work with the Ghostbusters to make sure that little damage is being caused to the city as possible.

There are several locations to explore such as the Public Library, the History Museum and the New York Streets. There are a huge array of Ghosts too featuring regulars such as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (right) and the Librarian.
You are also trained in the use of the PKE meter which can be used to scan the many ghosts you'll come across to gain information about them including which piece of equipment (there's four in total) is best to defeat it.
The PKE also leads you to a variety of possessed items that can be found throughout the various levels, all of which you'll find back at the Fire Station.
The proton pack has 4 different uses. The Proton Accelerator is the main one which you use to wear the ghosts out and capture them. The Portable Plasma Distributor contains green slime that is used to neutralise Black Slime and other dark matter as well as acting as a rope to move things too heavy to pick up by hand. The Dark Matter Generator helps slow ghosts and other targets down leaving you more time to tire the ghost down. The Meson Composite Collider acts like a machine gun in some ways shooting several shots a time. This is a more powerful version of the Proton Stream.

Lets talk a bit about the cast. As mentioned earlier all the original Ghostbusters appear and all are brilliant in it and the games developers have done a good job in creating likenesses for them, Peter Venkman walks around with a strut for example.
Dan Aykroyd is the star though as the over enthusiastic Ray Stantz. You spend most of your time with Ray which is a good thing, at least it was for me because Ray's my favourite. The chemistry between these guys is still there especially the bond between Egon and Ray while Winston is still there to make the occasional funny quip.
There are some scenes where the voice acting is quite poor especially coming from Bill Murray whose Garfield impersonation keeps coming through.

Even though it doesn't matter much, the game isn't completely free roaming but it's enough. In the later mission when the team goes to an alternate Central Park, the rookie (you) has to open the gate from the inside by pulling a lever in order to let the Ecto-1 in. They obviously weren't going to make it easy so even though the lever is just behind a fence near the main gate, you still have to explore the park for around 20 minutes before you get to it. What's more once the gate is opened Ray joins you by just jumping the fence separating the main gate from the button. I had to laugh.

There's plenty of stuff in this game to keep fans of Ghostbusters happy. The music for example is taken mostly from the film and a surge of excitement runs through you once the game starts with the sound of Ray Parker JR's classic theme tune.
In between the various missions you get to spend some time in the Fire House where Slimer lives (once you've recaptured him) and a familiar painting is standing near the reception desk. Interact with the Vigo the Carpathian and he'll talk to you.

In the UK, the game has only been released on the PS3 but trophies are plentiful. You get the obvious ones E.g. A trophy is earned after you complete a mission and when you complete the game. However, some trophies are hidden and have to be sought out. E.g. There's a room in the Sedgwick Hotel (that could be easily overlooked) that is covered in Black Slime. Get rid of it then you'll get a trophy all of which are named after quotes in the original films. There's a lot here for those gamers that like to overachieve the games they play.

The game isn't perfect. It would be better if your character had a name and a voice as you never hear him talk. Another improvement would be if you could interact with Ray and Co when in your company whether in the firehouse or on call.
Some things were out of the developers control though because Rick Moranis is now retired meaning that Louis Tully who was always the comedy within the Ghostbusters films isn't present.
Another disappointment is that you can't drive the Ecto-1 yourself which most people were looking forward to.

The game isn't really meant to be scary but there are some moments that shoots chills down tour spine. The Library Level is the best example of this. Several things will make you jump an the sounds of children in the background once you reach the children's reading area is quite unsettling.

If you're not a fan of the Ghostbusters films then not only is your taste in films ridiculously poor but this game really wouldn't entertain you at all. However I am a Ghostbusters fan so I'll give it....

9/10

Survival Horror Survey

UPDATE: Thank You for all your replies so far. The Survey is still open so please keep your views coming.

Sometimes it's hard to think of what to write about in this blog, especially when there isn't necessarily a specific game to write about.
To help me out I would appreciate if you could fill in my survey which will, or at least should, provide me with something interesting to write about.

To complete my survey click HERE

The Grudge on Nintendo Wii.

Formerly known as Feel, the newest Survival Horror game for the Wii is taken from the popular Japanese Horror, Ju-On (The Grudge).

The west has been waiting for Project Zero IV (Fatal Frame IV) for a while now and it looks like nothing is going to happen about it. Nintendo however have decided (in Japan anyway) to release a game that looks every bit Project Zero. Why wouldn't it really seeing that Project Zero is obviously influenced by Japanese horror films such as The Grudge and The Ring.

The game was first introduced as a game named Feel which was accompanied by a trailer showing the reactions of several Japanese gamers playing it (see below). A week later it was officially announced that the game was The Grudge and would be released in the USA on Halloween 2009. The UK and Europe still has to wait for a confirmation of a release date. However, the game was shown at the Movie Comic Media Expo which was in London so it should see a release in the UK.

The game is described as a "Haunted House simulator" and the game rates you based on how calm you stay throughout the game. Any flinch of your hand is recognised by the Wii-mote and lowers your score. You will finish the game no matter how low your score is but according to Rising Star, the games developer "it is those with a steady hand and nerves of steel that will have the most to gain from this experience."

Trailer Video

It would be boring if it was set in a house so luckily there are a few more locations you will get to look around including an abandoned warehouse, a dimly lit hospital and, the one I'm most looking forward to, a mannequin factory.

I'm a bit bitter that Nintendo are releasing this whilst at the same time giving Project Zero a complete brush off but this game does look scary. I'm also interested in seeing whether years of playing Survival Horrors has desensitised me at all.

Here are some links for you to find out more:

CVG.com
Official Website (Japanese)

More Alan Wake revealed at E3!

Finally, what a lot of people have been waiting for and hoping to see at this years E3 convention in LA.

Writer Sam Lake and game Producer Jay Ranki gave a demonstration during the Microsoft Press Conference yesterday. They start off with a short trailer which is narrated by the games protagonist explaining the disappearance of his wife, Alice. A guy named Rusty is introduced and the following demonstration shows Alan chasing after him in a dark forest.

One thing that I wanted to know about this game was what kind of creatures we would be defeating and now we know, kind of. We're not told exactly what they are but they look like ordinary, regular people though we can't see them properly due the darkness. They do however seem to be vulnerable to Alan's Flashlight and the light given off by Flares. At one point during game play the words "Use the light" show up on the wall.
Bats also make appearance attacking a chair lift that Alan ends up riding down but whether they show up again remains to be seen.

After the whole demo is completed a woman's voice, likely to be Alice asking Alan to "Wake Up" leading us to believe that what we played was a dream.

The video (gametrailer.com) can be seen below:

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To top it all off it is confirmed that Alan Wake will be released in Spring 2010. Still a long way to go but what's one year when you've been waiting four?

For new screenshots of the game click HERE

The game is looking brilliant and any doubts that the game was actually going to be released have been blown out of the water. Roll on next spring.

Silent Hill being remade for the Wii.

In 2008, Forbidden Siren was successfully remade for the PS3. The game had moved to better graphics, the story line was changed slightly and some new areas were added to the mix.

Now, it seems that it is Silent Hill who is having the make over under the name Shattered Memories.

The source can be found HERE.

The most interesting parts of the story is as follows:

"The characters play different roles, things don't necessarily happen in the same order, and the story is taken in lots of new directions."

I don't quite know what they mean when they say this. Will alliances change? Will Dahlia actually be a nice person? If so, that will mess up the series plot a lot. Does the order relate to the various levels so you will go to the Hospital before the school for example.

"One of Shattered Memories' most significant and intriguing additions-your answers actually affect how the game unfolds."

This isn't much new, all Silent Hill games end depending on what you do - James, in SH2 had to do different things to get the different endings E.g. Angela's knife, his photo of Mary and the Blue gem. Maybe more will be revealed.

"The last interesting tit bit from the article says that fans of the series will also be delighted to learn that there's a way through every locked door."

This will make the game much longer if you're a magpie gamer (you have to collect EVERYTHING). It could also make it tedious if some rooms have nothing in them.

Eurogamer has also put an article about this game.

They also quoted some very interesting facts:

"Konami goes on to ambitiously tout no load times, and claims players will only flee rather than engage baddies during combat. And while fleeing, the Z button will handle context-sensitive manoeuvres like breaking down doors, hopping fences and crashing through windows."

Will the game be challenging at all if you cannot combat the Monsters that show up? Will this take away some of the tension you usually get when playing Silent Hill games?

"Specifically, players will move Harry using the control stick and aim the torch by waving the Wiimote. Then, when Harry spots or uncovers something of interest, he'll vocally respond."

This will be a very good aspect if they do decide to do this. You'll get a better idea of how the character is feeling as the game progresses.

I'm disappointed that it's for the Wii - unfair seeing that the Playstation has had every Silent Hill game since release.

Here is an interesting read. It shows some screen shots of the game ans well as full information as how the game is going to work. There are some good points and also some bad but I'll leave it up to you to decide which you think are the negatives and positives.
It seems that a lot has been done for the games so far so a release should be imminent - Personally I am looking forward to it.

So, what does everybody think?

Is the Wii a good move?
Will it sell more than Homecoming did?

ATTENTION!! Feedback Wanted

The huge blast of Survival Horror game releases is now over...
In 2008/2009 we've had new Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Condemned and Forbidden Siren games. We saw the release of a new classic, Dead Space and the disappointment that was Alone in the Dark.
Now we have hardly anything to look forward to except from Alan Wake and Project Zero IV but no dates have been given for either of them.

Because we have a gap in game releases now, I would like to take this chance to ask readers of this blog for feedback and ideas for improvement.

I would like to know:

1) What franchises are people most interested in?
2) Can you recommend me any games to play?
3) Anything I am doing that you can do without?
4) What could I do to make you visit more often?
5) Have you ever recommended the blog to a friend?


I have some ideas for future topics, how do you feel about them?:

1) Character Profiles
2) Debate topics E.g. Horrors of Next-Gen Vs Horrors of Old-Gen.
3) Series comparisons E.g. Best Silent Hill, Project Zero etc...


I am grateful for all feedback given.

Thanks in advance...

Jadehill2001 - femalehorrorfan

Games the UK/US have missed out on.

Due to the Adult themes that are the norm in Survival Horror games, some regions decide to complain about some scenes/elements in the games that are released. This eventually means that some games are banned in some regions where others will tolerate it.
Sometimes it's the games' publishers that decide where a game is released. Sometimes they explain why the choice was made where others stay silent. Usually they don't give us an explanation and feel we should just except it.
The games below are examples of games that not all regions have had the chance to play, but why? I've tried to find out...



Imabikisou
Where Released: Japan
Why? Unknown - Market Differences?

It's not a game really, it's a "Graphic Novel" for the PS3 but it looks blooming marvelous.
Not a lot is known about it in the west and the official website is in Japanese. Google will translate for you but it still doesn't make much sense but what I can make out is that it revolves around a drug called "Vision" and a group of people including Hiroki Makimura and his girlfriend Manami Hayase. The people that use the drug end up dying in a fire leading to the belief that the drug is cursed in someway. Hiroki and Manami try and find out how to stop the curse.

The game consists of static images and short animated sequences but the graphics are amazing and the atmosphere still seems really intense despite the fact that you don't control the characters as in move left, forward etc. Instead, the game gives you options so you can tell the character what to do - at least, I think that's what you do.
I've tried to find the demo to get a clue as to how game play works but have had no success - my guess is that it was taken off the PSN.

The trailer above gives you an idea on what the game looks like and it isn't short of atmosphere at all. It's very dark and but I doubt it's something for Survival Horror gamers. If you're a fan of the Japanese horror films, like me, then this game should look interesting to you.

The game was developed by Japanese developers, Chunsoft and sega. Chunsoft has never released a game in the western market which is probably the main reason the US nor the UK has seen it.
It's easy to question whether this game would do well in the western market. Sound Novels aren't exactly the norm over here and the game would have probably bombed if it had been released here.

Chances of it coming to the US: None
Chances of it coming to the UK: None



Forbidden Siren 2
Where Released: Japan, UK, Europe
Why? No explanation.

Forbidden Siren 2 was released in Europe, Japan and the UK but wasn't released in the U.S. Forbidden Siren 1 was a huge success in Japan so the game was released in the UK four months later and then the US a month after that.
Poor sales figures of the original game may have been a reason why the US didn't get the sequel but Sony never made an announcement.

Several Survival Horror fans complained about the decision not to release Forbidden Siren 2. American Horror fans loved the original despite its difficulty and were quite unhappy about this.

It's a shame too because Forbidden Siren 2 really improved upon the original and the storyline and characters (including voice acting) as much better. In my opinion it was anyway. Youtube.com is a good source of seeing the game for yourself although it isn't the same as playing it.

Chances of it coming to the US: Very very small. The original was remade into Blood Curse so maybe FS2 has the same fate.



Rule of Rose
Where Released: US, Japan, Europe
Why? Banned

Rule of Rose was all over the gaming websites showing videos and screenshots etc. and it looked really good. The graphics looked fantastic and the storyline seemed interesting. The heroine, Jennifer is kidnapped by a group of snotty kids called the Red Crayon Aristocrats. They threaten to kill her if she doesn't do things for them so Jennifer is forced to search the ship where she is held hostage.

The games was due for release in all regions, that is until the Italian European Union minister Franco Frattini came along. He complained of the Brutality involved within the game along with the erotic aspects of the game involving female minors.
In 2007, Members of the European Parliament (MEP) proposed that the game be banned in Europe.
The game's publisher decided to withdraw it's release from the UK but, and this is the nonsense part, the rest of Europe would see it's release.
This annoyed a lot of people just because Frattini has no power in the UK. Why should the UK miss out when the rest of Europe is able to get it. Rule of Rose isn't the worst game ever released not when compared to the violence within GTA, Silent Hill and Resident Evil. These games pass just because they sell well and if the government can get money from a game (through V.A.T), who cares about the content?

I've managed to find some scenes on youtube to see what kind of subjects the game deals with and this is what I found:

• A dog can be found hanging from it's legs. The dog's eyes have also been covered. This can be considered cruel.


• In one cut scene, a grown man is consoling the young Diana by stroking her hair and arms.


• The children are regularly seen beating something in a bag. This is likely the Dog that Jennifer rescues


• The children bully Jennifer throughout the game

Maybe they were right to ban the game but giving it a more mature looking front cover and giving it an 18 certificate rating should have been good enough to stop parents buying it for their children. Adults should be able to make their own mind up about it - it's only a game after all.

Chances of it coming to the UK: Absolutely None



Fatal Frame IV?
Where Released: Japan (So far...)
Why? N/A - No Release status not confirmed.

We don't know what the deal is with this game yet. It was released in Japan in July 2008 but as of March 2009, the US and UK have not got it yet.
In January 2009, the Official Nintendo Magazine (UK Edition) announced that Europe and the UK were going to get this game in early 2009. Play.com, had a release date of 6th February down and things looked positive, for the UK at least.
It's now March '09 and nothing has been mentioned since, Tecmo haven't exactly been talkative on the subject and Nintendo (the game is for the Wii console) have been just as secretive.
Confirmation on a US release has not been mentioned AT ALL so it's quite likely the US will miss out.

It makes me wonder why Nintendo expressed interest in this when it only had the intentions to release it in Japan? Why Tecmo let it happen in the first place. Fair enough, the PS3 isn't the best selling console but at lease give it to Microsoft who are very Western friendly.
I think it's fair for me to say that the US is the series biggest market, especially when compared to the UK and it would be a bad choice to sell there.
As far as the UK is concerned, the Wii is the biggest factor in it's ever increasing games market. With advertising, it will sell especially with the good reviews it had in Japan (Edge Magazine - 8/10 and Famitsu - 34/40).

The UK has had confirmation and unless they change their mind we will get it though the US may, unfortunately miss out.

Chances of it coming to the US: OK. No confirmation yet but the UK hasn't been given a date yet so there is obviously still some time.
Chances of it coming to the UK: Very Good. It's been confirmed.