Frozen State is a 2013 survival-based horror role-playing computer game being developed by Snow Arc Studio, which immerses players in a bleak Siberian, post-apocalyptic wasteland. The game takes place within the crumbling ruin of a partially destroyed Soviet city.

Players have to learn to stay alive while facing vicious alien hybrids, ruthless bandits, and other survivors of the disaster, all of whom will stop at nothing in order to survive. While exploring new areas, scavenging for vital supplies, and fighting for your life, players have to make hard choices between greater goals and their own personal objectives. These choices lead to different outcomes and may have wide-ranging consequences.

The inspiration for Frozen State comes from many sources: games like Fallout 1 and 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl, Metro 2033, Half-Life 2, Resident Evil; films such as  The Thing, Alien(s), Prometheus, and The Road; and writers such as Isaac Asimov, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Stanislaw Lem and Richard Matheson.

Snow Arc Studio are currently seeking funding via pledge site Kickstarter.com

Monster Munch is 1983 indirect clone of Pac-Man for the Commodore 64 developed by Mark Trotter for Atlantis Software.

Players were advised to: ‘Guide ‘Munchie’ around the maze and help him to eat all the white dots. Watch out for the monsters. If they catch ‘Munchie’, one of his three lives is lost and the player is killed by a bolt of lightning. Turn the monsters blue by eating one of the flashing power pills. While they are blue, ‘Munchie’ can kill them and gain lots of bonus points. When the question mark appears, eat it for a mystery bonus. When all the dots are eaten, you start a new screen which has even more dangers then the last.’

Wikipedia

Posted by Adrian J. Smith using information via Wikipedia which is freely and legally available to share and remix under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Horrorpedia supports the sharing of information and opinions with the wider horror community.

Rampage is a 1986 arcade game by Bally Midway. Players take control of gigantic monsters trying to survive against onslaughts of military forces. Each round is completed when a particular city is completely reduced to rubble. Over the years it has been released on a variety of consoles, the main difference between the original arcade version being that it was possible to actually complete the game whereas you could spend forever feeding 50 pence pieces into the machine, only to repeat levels endlessly.

Playing with up to two other friends or alone, Rampage sees you take control of one of three characters familiar to all horror fans; a gigantic King Kong-like ape (George), a green Godzilla-like dinosaur (Lizzie) or a similarly-sized werewolf (Ralph), all of whom are mutated humans, escaping from an establishment called Scumlabs (George a middle-aged man, Lizzie a young woman, Ralph an elderly man). George was mutated after swallowing mega-vitamins, Lizzie was mutated after bathing in a radioactive lake and Ralph was mutated after eating infected sausages. Faced with a metropolis of skyscrapers, civilians, helicopters and various other likely city fare, the aim is for your chosen monster to raze everything in sight to the ground, moving onto the next screen which contains even more metal, concrete and flesh to destroy.

The monsters can climb the buildings, punching them to pieces on the way down which will eventually reduce them to rubble. The various people can also be punched or grabbed and food items can be eaten. The player’s monster receives damage from enemy bullets, sticks of dynamite, shells, punches from other monsters and falls. Damage is recovered by eating the various food items such as fruit, roast chicken, or even the soldiers. If a monster takes too much damage, it reverts into a naked human and starts walking off the screen sideways, covering its modesty with its hands (and in this state, can be eaten by another monster).

Smashing open windows generally reveals an item or person of interest, which may be helpful or harmful. Helpful items include food or money, whilst dangerous ones include bombs, electrical appliances, and cigarettes. Some items can be both; for example, a toaster is dangerous until the toast pops up, and a photographer must be eaten quickly before he dazzles the player’s monster with his flash, causing it to fall. When a civilian is present waving their hands at a window signaling for help, a player’s points rapidly increase when the person is grabbed. Each monster can hold only one type of person: George can hold women, Lizzy can hold men, and Ralph can hold businessmen.

Rampage is set over the course of 128 days in cities across North America. The game starts in Peoria, Illinois and ends in Plano, Illinois. In  After this, the cycle of cities repeats five times. After 768 days, the game resets back to Day 1. Some of the home console versions of the game start in San Jose, California and end in Los Angeles, California after going all around North America. The rampage travels through two Canadian provinces and forty-three U.S. states. Only Connecticut, Delaware, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Vermont are spared.

Rampage was ported to most home computers and video game consoles of its time, including the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Lynx, Atari 8-bit,Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS/IBM PC, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, NES, and Sega Master System. The Atari Lynx version adds a special fourth character named Larry, a giant rat. The NES version excludes Ralph, reducing the number of monsters to two. In July 2000, Midway licensed Rampage, along with other Williams Electronics games, to Shockwave for use in an online applet to demonstrate the power of the shockwave web content platform, entitled Shockwave Arcade Collection. The conversion was created by Digital Eclipse. Rampage was also ported to iOS as part of the Midway arcade app.

About a decade later, a sequel was released entitled Rampage World Tour, later followed by console-exclusive games including Rampage 2: Universal Tour, Rampage Through Time, and Rampage Puzzle Attack. The latest game in the series is Rampage: Total Destruction.

The game has enjoyed such lasting success that a film version is planned by New Line with John Rickard (A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) and Final Destination 5) set to produce.

Daz Lawrence

Alan Wake is a psychological horror video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released for the Xbox 360 in May 2010 and Microsoft Windows in 2012.

The story follows best-selling thriller novelist Alan Wake, as he tries to uncover the mystery behind his wife’s disappearance during a vacation in the small fictional town of Bright Falls, Washington, all while experiencing events from the plot in his latest novel, which he cannot remember writing, coming to life.

The player controls the eponymous protagonist Alan Wake. In the game, a “darkness” is taking over humans, animals and objects. These enemies, dubbed the “Taken”, are murderous shadows that attack Wake, wielding weapons of their own, ranging from mallets and knives to shovels and chainsaws. They vary by speed, size, and the amount of damage they can take, and some can teleport between short distances. Besides the Taken, the player must combat flocks of possessed ravens and animated objects.

Alan Wake was influenced by and often alludes to certain films, TV shows, and books, as well as paying homage to a number of artists and has been explored by King in a number
of his works. Wake’s narration directly alludes to King on several occasions, including the game’s opening line, in which he quotes a Stephen King essay. The game also pays homage to the film The Shining (based on King’s novel of the same name) with a hedge maze area similar to the iconic maze in the film, among other references.d works. Best-selling author Stephen King was a major inspiration for Alan Wake. The main character as a writer whose work is coming true is a theme that King has used himself. In addition to King’s work, the stories of Bret Easton Ellis and Neil Gaiman have been cited as influences, as well as Mark Z. Danielewski‘s House of Leaves.

Alan Wake received generally positive reviews. Michael Plant from The Independent gave the game a score of 5/5. He praised the game for its “flawless pacing”, which “ensures a compulsive experience”. The editing and plot were also received very positively, making the game “the kind of experience the current console generation was made for.”

Wikipedia

Posted by Ellis Norton

Splatterhouse (スプラッターハウス Supurattāhausu) is a 1988 arcade game developed and published by Namco. It is also the title of the entire series of subsequent games released in home console and personal computer formats.

Due to its violent nature as well as some questionable enemies, the TurboGrafx-16 port of Splatterhouse had a parental advisory warning of sorts printed on the front of the box that read “The horrifying theme of this game may be inappropriate for young children… and cowards.”

Splatterhouse is a sidescrolling beat ‘em up video game in which the player controls Rick, a parapsychology student who is trapped inside West Mansion. After his resurrection by the Terror Mask, Rick makes his way through the mansion, fighting off hordes of creatures in a vain attempt to save his girlfriend Jennifer from a grisly fate. Players of the game will also recognize a number of western horror film influences, such as Friday the 13th and Evil Dead 2.

Similar to many sidescrolling beat ‘em up games, Rick can only move in a two-dimensional environment. The playing field does not feature a three-dimensional area, a feature that was added later in the series with Splatterhouse 3. He has the ability to jump and can punch and kick. Rick also has a Special Attack, where he will perform a drop kick that sends him skidding along the ground, damaging any enemies he hits. Rick can also perform a low kick, low punch, and jumping attacks, as well as pick up and use various weapons placed in the levels.

Two college students, Rick Taylor and Jennifer Willis, take refuge from a storm in West Mansion, a local landmark known as “Splatterhouse” for the rumors of hideous experiments purportedly conducted there by Dr. West, a renowned and missing parapsychologist. Rick awakens in the dungeon of the mansion to discover that he is still alive thanks to the influence of the “Terror Mask”, or in some versions, the “Hell Mask”, a Mayan sacrificial artifact from West’s house which is capable of sentient thought. The mask attaches itself to Rick, fusing with his body and transforming him into a monster with superhuman strength. With the mask’s encouragement, Rick goes on a rampage through the dungeon and the mansion grounds, killing hordes of monsters…

Wikipedia

Hidden Objects: Call of Horror is a 2014 Android game app for mobile devices.

Developer Description:

Open up your mind for everyone’s dissection and delectation!

There is now a Facebook Group for Horrorpedia users/followers. Sign up and have your say about all things horror related!

Post anything and everything about horror, sci-fi, cult and exploitation movies and culture. Write about movies, TV series, books, magazines, comics, theatre, computer games, theme rides, haunted houses, true crime, novels, rock bands, cartoons, artwork, toys and games, iconic directors, actors, writers, producers, composers… it’s all wide open for discussion, your opinions, celebration, rants and whines!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1433353243589747/

And don’t forget you can also follow all Horrorpedia posts by signing up to our standard Facebook ‘like’ page

Plus, we’re on Tumblr – 8,000+ more images, many of them more disturbing than on our main site!

Twitter – for instant updates regarding posts

And we have a growing presence on Pinterest – lots of great images, many of them not on the main site!

The main hacksaw-to-the-head image is from Horror Express

Contact us via: horrorpedia.email@gmail.com

Midnight Mutants is a computer game for the Atari 7800 ProSystem, developed by Radioactive Software and published by Atari Corporation in 1990. It features a likeness of Al Lewis, dressed as Grandpa Munster, playing the role of “Grampa.” The game was one of the last releases for the Atari 7800. As with similar games of that era, Midnight Mutants features a large in-game environment with many locations, a background musical soundtrack, battles against boss enemies and an animated introduction. Despite its limited distribution, the game remains popular among Atari 7800 fans. Critical reaction has been fairly positive with praise being paid to the game’s graphics, gameplay and quirky sense of humour.

Game plot:

On Halloween night in 1992 young Jimmy Harkman’s grandfather (known as “Grampa”) has been imprisoned inside of a pumpkin by a resurrected villain named Dr. Evil, who is taking revenge for being burned at the stake as a witch by their ancestor Johnathon Harkman on Halloween night in 1747.

Jimmy then heads on a Halloween quest to free his grandfather. With Doctor Evil on the loose, Jimmy finds the countryside has become inhabited by scary creatures such as zombies and werewolves that can injure him physically and also make his blood impure. Fortunately, even though Grampa is trapped in pumpkin form, he is available to give Jimmy advice on occasion with the push of a button. Along the way, Jimmy can collect weapons and items that will help him in his quest to defeat evil creatures, giant bosses and ultimately Dr. Evil himself…

Review:

It’s a wonderful isometric adventure game that harks back to the days of the ZX Spectrum and Ultimate Play The Game. You are on a mission to rescue Grandpa himself who has been captured and trapped in a haunted mansion … The graphics throughout Midnight Mutants are fantastic and the cut scenes where Grandpa actually talks to you and gives you tips are particularly nice. The game is massive and the gameplay is very deep too, you will be wishing at times that it had a save option!” Retro Video Gamer

Wikipedia | Image sources: Moby Games

Related: Burn, Witch, Burn! (article) | The Munsters

Alien: Isolation is an upcoming first-person survival horror stealth game developed by The Creative Assembly, based in West Sussex, and published by Sega. Though the game is set in the future, the technology depicted the game is made to look as if it were designed in the 1970s in order to match the look of the first Alien film. It will be released on October 7, 2014. It will be available for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

The game is set in 2137, 15 years after the events of Alien. The game follows Amanda, who is investigating the disappearance of her mother Ellen Ripley. Amanda was transferred to the space station Sevastopol to find the flight recorder of Nostromo. However, an Alien has already infested the station.

The Creative Assembly described Alien: Isolation as a survival horror game as opposed to an action shooter, and to that end chose to style the game more closely to Ridley Scott’s original horror film Alien, as opposed to James Cameron’s more action oriented sequel Aliens. Unlike most other video game adaptations of the Alien franchise, Alien: Isolation features only one Alien throughout its duration that cannot be killed, requiring the player to use stealth tactics in order to survive. Although the game features some weapons, they will be effective only against the human occupants and android “Working Joes”.

Instead of following a predetermined path, the artificial intelligence of the Alien has been programmed to actively hunt the player by sight, sound and smell.The Alien AI was programmed with a complex set of behavioural designs that progressively unlock as it encounters the player to create the illusion that the Alien is learning from its encounters with the player and adjusting its hunting strategy appropriately.This includes the ability for the Alien to investigate “secondary sources” of disturbances; for instance, if it notices a locker or air lock is open, the Alien will search for who opened it.The Alien emits vocalisations which the player can listen for to gain understanding of its current intentions; a scream may indicate that the creature is about to attack, while other sounds may indicate the Alien has seen something, is searching or has lost all trace of its prey…

Watch BBC News report on Alien: Isolation

Wikipedia | IMDb | Official site

The Evil Within – known as Psycho Break in Japan – is a 2014 survival horror video computer game developed by Tango Gameworks and released by Bethesda Softworks for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One video game consoles and Microsoft Windows.

Believing that the tropes of the survival horror had become predictable over time, the design deliberately attempts to make the player feel powerless by taking place in confined spaces, limiting ammunition, and presenting near-invincible enemies that promote running and hiding over engaging in combat. Art Director Naoki Katakai said that the design concept of enemies, such as those wrapped in barbed wire or filled with glass shards, is that they are victims suffering under a greater evil. The asylum itself was inspired by the Winchester Mystery House, a Californian mansion famous for its architectural curiosities.

Plot teaser:

While investigating the scene of a gruesome mass murder, Detective Sebastian Castellanos and his partners encounter a mysterious and powerful force. After seeing the slaughter of his fellow officers, Sebastian is ambushed and knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he finds himself in a deranged world where hideous creatures wander among the dead. Facing unimaginable terror, and fighting for survival, Sebastian embarks on a frightening journey to unravel what is behind this evil force…

Reviews:

“So, is The Evil Within a proper, back-to-core-values Resident Evil for the 21st century? In a word, yes. It couldn’t even resist the temptation to put “Evil” in its name. It more or less is Resident Evil, with its unathletic, slow-moving protagonist, devastating shotgun, crates to smash, near-monochrome visuals, reel-to-reel tape recorders, squelchy mutant bosses and so on. You even see the odd typewriter, but disappointingly, you can’t interact with them”. Steve Boxer, The Guardian

“… while its story does end up buckling under its own ambition, there is little here that takes away from the joy of experiencing survival horror under the steady hands of a master of the craft”. Lucy O’Brien, IGN

“The game’s tensest moments arise from its combination of stealth gameplay, purposefully awkward gunplay and the need to constantly scavenge for supplies, as ammo, health syringes and upgrades – appearing as collectable jars of brain fluid – are in short supply. A crossbow with customisable bolts and matches required for igniting the reanimated dead round out your arsenal. Yet even on the casual difficulty setting The Evil Within’s challenging gameplay matches its abrasive demeanor with progression often relying on careful resource management and manipulation of environmental hazards.” Oliver Cragg, The Independent

” … the game Resident Evil 5 should have been”. Computer and Video Games

Wikipedia

Ghosts ‘n Goblins (魔界村; Makaimura; “Demon World Village“) is a 1985 side-scrolling platforming game developed by Tokuro Fujiwara at Capcom, initially for video arcades and has since been released on several other platforms for the home market. It is the first game in what eventually became an entire franchise.

Ghosts ‘n Goblins is a platform game where the player controls a knight, named Sir Arthur – that’s where the suggestion of any link to Arthurian legend ends. Arthur must defeat zombies, ogres, demons, cyclops, bats, dragons and other monsters in order to rescue Princess Prin Prin, who has been kidnapped by Satan, king of Demon World. Along the way the player can pick up new weapons, bonuses and extra suits of armour that can help in this task.

The game is often considered very difficult by arcade standards and is commonly regarded as one of the most difficult games ever released. A unique aspect of the game is the knight’s vulnerability – he sets off on his quest wearing a full suit of armour but one touch from one of the enemies along the way relieves him of this, leaving him to continue clad only in his underwear. If Arthur is hit once more, the player must return right to the start of the level, regardless of any progress made. Armour can be replaced by picking up bonus suits, though these are few and far between. Furthermore, each life can only last a certain length of time (generally around three minutes), the clock being reset at the start of a level. If the clock does run out, the player instantly loses that life.

After defeating the final boss, but only with the cross weapon (if the player does not have the cross weapon, they will be prompted that it is needed to defeat the boss and restart at the beginning of level 5 and must repeat round 5 and 6 again regardless if the weapon is obtained immediately or not) for the first time the player is informed that the battle was “a trap devised by Satan”. The player must then replay the entire game on a higher difficulty level to reach the genuine final battle. It is likely the player will already have reached homicide levels of frustration by this stage.

Only a year after launching in arcades, the game found itself in many a household worldwide, having transferred to various consoles, most famously the Commodore 64 but also the ZX Spectrum, Amiga, NES, Atari ST and Nintendo Gameboy. The gameplay was changed somewhat, partially to make victory more achievable (though not in this reviewer’s case) and also to shrink down the expanse of the gameplay area to function on machines with little capacity. Other elements were also tweaked – Princess Prin Prin was often renamed, Guinevere, depending on the territory of release, whilst her kidnapper changed from Satan to Astaroth.
So successful was the port to home consoles that further games followed:

Ghosts ‘n Goblins (1985) (Arcade, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, IBM PC compatibles, Commodore 16, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, NES, Xbox, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, iOS, Virtual Console)
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (1988) (Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Sharp X68000, Sega Saturn, Xbox, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, SuperGrafx, Master System, Genesis, Virtual Console, ZX Spectrum)
Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (1991) (SNES, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network)
Choumakaimura R (2002) (Game Boy Advance) – An enhanced re-mixed version of Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts
Makaimura for WonderSwan (1999) (WonderSwan)
Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins (2006) (PlayStation Portable)
Gokumakaimura Kai (2007) (PlayStation Portable) – An enhanced re-mixed version of Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins
Ghosts ‘n Goblins: Gold Knights (2009) (iOS)
Ghosts ‘n Goblins: Gold Knights II (2010) (iOS)

The universe was now well-known enough for specific characters to break out and have their own game ranges, including Maximo and Gargoyle’s Quest. Some aspects of the game, from the knight’s iconic appearance (both armoured and undressed) to the score by Ayako Mori can be found in other gaming franchises, such as Dead Rising 2 and Marvel Vs. Capcom. The full cast can be seen below:

Grimm: The grim reaper who frees Maximo from limbo and aids him on his journey in exchange for killing Achille.

Firebrand: Known as The Red Arremer in Japan, Firebrand is the primary protagonist of the Gargoyle’s Quest series. He belongs to a race of gargoyle demons known as the Red Arremer Tribe, considered the elite warriors of the demon king Astaroth. He is considered a hero among his peers, and as such he has been nicknamed Red Blaze due to his bright red skin and prowess with fiery magic. The Red Arremer tribe appear as standard enemies in the main Ghosts ‘n Goblins series, while a fiery blue silhouette of a Red Arremer serves as the series’ logo.

Breager: A king of the demon realm that serves as a primary antagonist in the Gargoyle’s Quest series.

Astaroth: A demon king and the primary antagonist of the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series. When near death he transforms into the undead demon king Nebiroth, a separate entity and personality than Astaroth.

Arthur: A knight in the service of princess Prin-Prin. Arthur is the primary protagonist of the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series.

Lancelot: One of Arthur’s knights with a unique jump attack. He is kidnapped and brainwashed to fight Arthur.

Lucifer: Translated as Rushifell in Gargoyle’s Quest and Gargoyle’s Quest II, and alternatively referred to as Loki (Ghouls ‘n Ghosts), Hades (Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins), and Satan. Lucifer is an extremely powerful noble in the demon realm and serves as the end-game boss in many of the games in the Ghosts ‘n Goblins franchise. In the Gargoyle’s Quest series he functions as both a rival and assist character, testing and then aiding Firebrand in reaching his full potential. Lucifer despises Astaroth (who he frequently overthrows to rule the demon realm) though, ironically, is an ally with Nebiroth.

Maximo: The primary protagonist of the Maximo series. Maximo is a king who is slain by his adviser Achille. He strikes a deal with Grimm, the grim reaper, in order to rescue his betrothed, Sophia.

Perceval: One of Arthur’s knights and a powerful short range fighter with a unique dash attack.

Prin-Prin: Princess Prin-Prin is the ruler of the human realm—Ghouls ‘n Ghosts specifies the Kingdom of Hus—and the last human with royal blood. She serves as the primary foil of the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series. Astaroth kidnaps her in order to use her royal blood to invade the human realm. Although always referred to as Prin-Prin in Japan, she has been called both Prin-Prin and Guinevere in the various American and UK releases.

Sardius: The primary demon antagonist and end-boss from Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts.

Sophia: The primary foil of the Maximo series. Sophia is Maximo’s betrothed, kidnapped at the beginning of Maximo: Ghosts to Glory.

Across all the home console formats, sales have exceeded 4.4 million copies and the franchise shows no signs of having run its course just yet.

Daz Lawrence

‘Evil goes online’

Hellraiser: Hellworld is a 2005 horror movie directed by Rick Bota (Hellraiser: Hellseaker; Hellraiser: Deader) for Dimension Pictures. It is the eighth instalment in the series.

The Hellworld script is based on a short story called “Dark Can’t Breathe” by Joel Soisson. It was released straight to DVD in the US on September 6, 2005, after a few film festival screenings.

The film stars Lance Henriksen in the role of the Host. Henriksen had originally been approached to play the role of Frank Cotton in the first film in the series, Hellraiser. Henriksen turned the offer down in favour of a starring role in the vampire thriller Near Dark (1987). Other leads: Doug Bradley, Katheryn Winnick, Christopher Jacot, Khary Payton, Henry Cavill (Blood Creek) and Désirée Malonga.

Plot teaser:

A circle of youths are addicted to playing Hellworld, an online computer game based on the Hellraiser series. At the funeral of Adam, one of the friends who was obsessed with the game and ultimately committed suicide after becoming too immersed in the game, the remaining five friends blame themselves for not having his death.

Two years later, they nonetheless attend a private Hellworld Party at an old mansion after receiving invites through the game. Mike, Derrick and Allison are enthusiastic about the party, while Chelsea only reluctantly accompanies them. Jake, who is still very much distressed by Adam’s death, only agrees to show up after a female Hellworld player with whom he has struck up an online friendship asks him to attend so they can meet. The quintet are cordially welcomed by the middle-aged party host, who offers them drinks, shows them around the mansion (allegedly a former convent and asylum also built by Lemarchand), and provides them with cell phones to communicate with other guests.

As the party progresses, Allison, Derrick and Mike find themselves trapped in separate parts of the house, and are gruesomely killed by the Host, Pinhead, or Cenobite minions Chatterer III and Bound. Meanwhile, Jake and Chelsea become mysteriously invisible to other party guests, and are stalked by the Host and the Cenobites…

Hellraiser films on Horrorpedia: Hellraiser | Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth | Hellraiser: Hellseeker | Hellraiser: Deader | Hellraiser: Hellworld | Hellraiser: Revelations

Reviews:

“There’s a lot less story to Hellworld, although it does deliver in the sordid elements you’d want from a horror film – sex, violence and nudity. It deteriorates into teenage slasher movie at one point, but having Lance Henriksen and Doug Bradley in the cast makes things work a little better than most slasher films.” Kevin Carr, 7(M) Pictures

” … the film has nothing to do with the basic concepts behind the original stories, and worse, it’s simply not that good of a movie period. The kids are the usual generic and largely unlikable lot, the scenario makes almost zero sense, and the villain isn’t threatening. If this was just some random movie called Hellworld, with the Cenobites replaced by anonymous demon types, it would still be a lousy movie – having it be part of a franchise just makes it worse.” Horror Movie a Day

“The acting is pretty good, and it’s always a joy to see Henriksen on the screen. However, the script and direction are uninspired. The most regrettable thing is the lack of any real horror throughout the movie, with Pinhead and the cenobites reduced to simple spooks better suited for a video game that a serious movie.” Octavio Ramos, Examiner.com

” … sequence after sequence of the various characters wandering the preposterously large mansion while muttering so-called “clever” comments to themselves (it doesn’t help that each character seems to have emerged directly from the horror-cliche rulebook, including the sassy, doomed black guy). The gore, presumably the one bright spot to a film like this, is sparse and unimaginative; Pinhead lops a guy’s head off with a butcher knife, if that tells you anything.” David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

” …. as a standalone the film might do ok with audiences. Where it crosses the line is in trying to marry this franchise with a target audience formula, namely “slasher teen”. You get the consummate Hellraiser fans who really want a return to the lineage. A return meaning, more back story, more disclosure of the cenobites and more interaction with a visual Hell. HellWorld pokes fun at that idea with its modern interpretation that stems away from what the fans seek. It changes the rules around, ignores its heritage and insults the central idea of Pinhead and his world of suffering.” HorrorNews.net

Cast:

• Doug Bradley as Pinhead
• Lance Henriksen as The Host
• Katheryn Winnick as Chelsea
• Christopher Jacot as Jake
• Khary Payton as Derrick
• Henry Cavill as Mike
• Désirée Malonga as Désirée Malonga
• Glenn Tyson as Anaconda
• Anna Tolputt as Allison
• Stelian Urian as Adam
• Adam Wallace as Tree

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘In space no-one can hear you scream.’

Not so on Earth, sadly, as game enthusiasts trying to play Alien on their Commodore 64 screamed in frustration. Although that said, I did manage to complete it on a number of occasions, but it did take some tense hours of game play, sat in the dark, knowing the sirens could go off at any second and my crew would be attacked by a badly animated 8-bit xenomorph.

Alien the computer game was released as a belated movie tie-in to the 1979 cult sci-fi horror in 1984, by Argus Press Software. It was released on Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC home computer formats. And despite its god-awfully basic graphics, and the aforementioned painfully difficult game play, it was one of the most heart-pounding atmospheric games that ever came out for the early 8-bit home computers.

The game follows the movie, in that at the beginning of the game a crew member (not always, but often Kane) gives “birth” to the alien. It’s then up  to the rest of the crew the player controls to move around the three levels of the Nostromo using the air ducts, attempting to isolate the alien and destroy it. Or blow it out of the airlock of the Nostromo, or as in the movie set the self-destruct on the ship and get away in the escape pod.

As with the movie one your crew is an android (not always, but often Ash). The android will at some point go haywire, and cause your crew additional problems. The rest of the crew will listen to your commands, as long as they are happy, but if they become anxious they will disobey your commands. And your crew will meet the alien and they will die. In fact when anyone first plays the game, it’s likely they will all die. Time and time again!

As you move your crew around the Nostromo, via the ducting they will encounter the alien, and very likely not survive it. It’s a tense game, with minimal graphics and even more minimal sound. You can hear the constant heart-beat of the crew members you command, the beep of the tracker (that sometimes Jones the cat sets off), and the opening and closing of hatches, and the piecing siren sound when you meet the alien. That makes you jump!

There was nothing else even close in atmosphere in gaming at the time. I would switch the light off and play it for hours, feeling a palpable tension in the room, as I had crew members search room after room for the alien, only to be caught by it in the ducting. I still recall almost jumping backwards off my chair the first time I saw it. Alien was a true classic of game play out-stripping the need for all singing and dancing graphics.

Richie Weird – This post first appeared on Weird Retro. Thanks to Richie for permission to re-post it.

Related: computer games | Alien: Isolation

Evolve is an upcoming video game, developed by Turtle Rock Studios and published by 2K Games. The game will be released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on February 10, 2015.

Evolve is set on Shear, a distant planet located in the “Far Arm” of space, in the distant future. The established colonies, considered the most valuable in this region of space, are soon attacked by malevolent alien Monsters. 

As the Monsters slaughter the colonists on Shear, a former planet tamer named William Cabot is brought out of retirement to deal with the threat, in order to evacuate the remaining colonists from Shear. In response, Cabot assembles a team of Hunters – consisting of war veterans, psychopaths, professionals, and expendables – to eliminate the Monsters, setting the main conflict of Evolve…

Evolve is an asymmetrical multiplayer game, pitting four player-controlled Hunters against an alien Monster, controlled by a fifth player. Both Hunters and Monsters can use unique abilities during the game. The Monster player can kill other smaller creatures to evolve and become stronger by entering a cocoon stage, leaving itself vulnerable for a short duration.

The game will feature a variety of maps, one of which being a large jungle, with some industrial elements where players can take shelter. There are various power-ups that both Hunters and Monsters can obtain by killing the local wildlife. The Hunters are tasked with killing the Monster; while the Monster must either kill all four Hunters, or complete a secondary objective such as destroying a human base or power plant.

The Hunters’ team is always made up of four classes: a trapper, a support, a medic, and an assault class. Each class will contain a variety of different Hunters with different abilities and play-styles. The Monster player will also be able to choose from a variety of monsters; so far, only four of these monsters have been revealed, including “Goliath”, “Kraken”,”Wraith” and “Behemoth”.

Game modes

• Hunt: The Hunters must kill the Monster before it can destroy the power relay located in the map. The Monster must reach stage 3 in order to destroy the relay, though it can also opt to kill all of the Hunters.
• Nest: Six Monster eggs are located in random locations on the map. The Monster must protect them from the Hunters for 10 minutes, and can hatch one of the eggs to spawn a minion to help it. The Hunters must destroy all six eggs, as well as any minions, within the time limit to win.
• Rescue: Injured colonists trying to escape the Monsters are placed randomly on the map. Hunters need to locate, revive and protect them as they make their escape. The monster needs to kill as many of these colonists as possible and keep them from getting away. Who ever saves or kills five colonists first wins.
• Defend: A starship’s refueling station comes under the assault of a player-controlled fully evolved monster and smaller Goliath minions. The hunters must stop the monster from causing a catastrophic accident by protecting the power generators until the ship is fully powered, while the monster must destroy two generators to reach the ship’s power source.

Buy Evolve for XBox One from Amazon.co.uk

Buy Evolve for Windows 7 / 8 from Amazon.com 

 Buy Evolve for PS4 from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Wikipedia

Blue Demon ver.2.0 – Ao Oni ver.2.0 or 青鬼 ver.2.0 – is a 2015 Japanese horror film directed by Maegawa Hideaki from a screenplay by Ami Inagawa. It is a cinematic adaptation of a survival horror computer game and stars Soran Tamoto, Taishi Nakagawa, Yuna Taira, Shota Matsushima, Ikumi Hisamatsu, Reo Kanshuji.

The film will be released on July 4, 2015.

Plot teaser:

On the way to visit Shun (Soran Tamoto), who didn’t attend class, Hiroshi (Taishi Nakagawa) and Anna (Yuna Taira) are drawn by a mysterious butterfly and enter the big house “Jail House”. They get lost and wander around the house.

Meanwhile, Takuro (Shota Matsushima), Mika (Ikumi Hisamatsu) and Takeshi (Reo Kanshuji), who bullies Shun, enter the “Jail House” to test their courage…

Bloodborne – ブラッドボーン Buraddobōn – is a 2015 action role-playing computer game directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, developed by From Software, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4.

Bloodborne features action role-playing elements similar to those found in director Miyazaki’s other games Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. Players can return to a safe zone, known as the Hunters Dream, from lanterns spread throughout the world. Doing so replenishes health, but repopulates monsters in the game world. Combat is fast paced and requires an offensive approach in order for players to combat dense hordes of enemies.

The player character is agile and is able to perform sweeping dashes around enemies while locked on. The new risk versus reward style of gameplay is emphasized through Bloodborne ’​s health regain system, which allows the player to, within a small window of time, recover portions of lost health by striking back at the player’s attacker.

Most melee weapons can transform into two alternate states; each state encourages a different approach to combat. The Saw Cleaver, for example, in its initial state can be used to quickly dispatch enemies in cramped areas, but when transformed into its secondary state it becomes an extended blade more suited for crowd control. The player can also wield a firearm in their left hand that can be used to stun enemies, which can then be followed up with a critical attack from the player’s melee weapon.

Similar to Dark Souls, enemies drop experience points in the form of Blood Echoes. Should the player die, their blood echoes will be lost at the location of their death. If they are able to reach that point again they can regain them. Also, Blood Echoes may be captured by an opponent, typically identified by glowing purple eyes. Defeating this opponent will return lost Blood Echoes. Enemies also drop Blood Vials, used as healing potions, and Quicksilver Bullets, generic ammunition for ranged weaponry.

Multiplayer is present as well. By expending a consumable item, players can summon other players, to help with boss battles or large groups of enemies.

Buy Bloodborne from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Reviews:

‘Bloodborne lies somewhere between Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2, better than the latter but not quite as good as the former. The fourth time following the same template means the master strokes, however masterful they are, are anticipated. But take nothing away from this brilliant, brooding, brutal reinvention, because almost as great as the best game ever is pretty bloody great.’ Ben Griffin, Games Radar

‘It’s terribly hard and more obscure than a bad Russian translation of a James Joyce novel, it also takes place in one of the least inviting settings you can imagine. It’s set in a grim old world, is Bloodborne. However, if you can embrace the gloom and hold on tight through its many hard-as-nails sections, you’re rewarded with one of the most involving and rewarding games of the current generation.’ Andrew Williams. Stuff.tv

‘As of this writing, there’s nothing I want to do other than play more Bloodborne, but honestly, what I’m most looking forward to is how much mileage the Souls community will get out of this experience. There’s so many lore videos to make, speedruns to shatter minds, and discussions to be had about just what the hell’s up with Bloodborne‘s twisted, Gothic world. And I can see myself staying up way too late for the next year wrapping my brain around all of it.’ Bob Mackey, US Gamer

Godzilla is a Bandai Namco computer game for PS3 and PS4 that is released on 14th July 2015 in North America and 17th July 2015 in Europe.

The game has been animated to look like the 1960s and 1970s Godzilla films, and also features kaiju monsters Destroyah, Gamera, Gigan, MechaGodzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah. The aim of the game is to destroy as much of the city as possible.

Buy Godzilla PS4 game from Amazon.com

Game play:

• Destruction: Bash your way through each stage to take out the Energy Generator and proceed to the next area. Be sure to smash as many other buildings in the stage as possible to maximize your G-Energy.
• Movie Style Action: Players can choose to view the action with a special Movie-Style Camera Angle System. Choosing this camera angle switches the camera view to special, pre-set locations on the map.
• Multiple Modes: Mission Mode – Crush your way through over 20 stages of mayhem! Diorama Mode – Build the Godzilla scene of their dreams! King of Monsters Mode.
• Power-Up: Collect G-Energy in each stage to Power-Up your Godzilla! Grow Godzilla from 50 up to 100 Meters tall. Godzilla’s defensive and offensive prowess will increase in line with his size.

Some images thanks to: Gamesradar

WH

Lego Dimensions Scooby-Doo is a 2015 video game that joins the already announced Marty McFly, Gandalf, Batman and Doctor Who in the Lego brand mashing adventure.

The Scooby-Doo content is part of the Starter Pack for Lego Dimensions, but the Team Pack expansion enables players to take control of Scooby or Shaggy and drive the Mystery Machine around any of the fourteen campaign levels.

The expansion pack also unlocks the Scooby-Doo open world levels that can be explored to find hidden bricks and mysteries to solve.

In the trailer below, Scooby and Shaggy run through the Ghostbusters HQ, Ninjago homelands and DC Comics cityscapes before stopping off at Hill Valley and Homer Simpson’s house.

Lego Dimensions is released on Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 on September 27th in the US and September 29th in the UK.

Buy from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

NB. If this post seems like blatant product placement, it’s not. We’re big Scooby-Doo fans. And if you did buy the game it’d help us with our web-hosting. Meanwhile, this piece on the supposedly left-wing leaning British Daily Mirror newspaper website IS product placement.

Friday the 13th: The Game is a 2016 computer slasher horror game that has already raised startup funding via a successful Kickstarter campaign.

At the time of writing, and with six hours to go, the online project has received $93,526 more than its $700,000 goal. You can guarantee yourself a copy of the game by pledging at least $25.

The multiplayer PC, Xbox One, and PS4 game is slated to arrive in October 2016. It is being developed by Gun Media and Illfonic with the full support of franchise creator Sean Cunningham.

It’s a third-person, asymmetrical multiplayer game. One player controls Jason Voorhees, while seven others take control of camp counsellors who are attempting to survive the night.

Plot:

Jason Voorhees is unleashed and stalking the grounds of Camp Crystal Lake…

Related: Friday the 13th – video game

The Last of Us is an action-adventure survival horror video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released for the PlayStation 3 worldwide on June 14, 2013.

Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl named Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States. The Last of Us is played from a third-person perspective; players use firearms and improvised weapons, and can use stealth to defend against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated strain of the Cordyceps fungus.

The game has received widespread critical acclaim, with praise directed at its narrative, gameplay, visual and sound design, characterization, and depiction of female characters.

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Last of Us became one of the best-selling games on the PlayStation 3, selling over 1.3 million units in its first week and over eight million units within fourteen months. It won year-end accolades, including multiple Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications, critics, and game award ceremonies.

Naughty Dog have since released several downloadable content additions; The Last of Us: Left Behind adds a single-player campaign following Ellie and her best friend Riley. An enhanced edition of the original game, The Last of Us Remastered, was released for the PlayStation 4 in July 2014. A sequel, The Last of Us Part II, was announced in December 2016.

Wikipedia