Legionwood 2: Volume One Gets Officially Site-d

Posted on January 25, 2014 by geelw

I actually didn’t know (but should have guessed) until a few months ago that the guy behind the Legionwood games, D. Robert Grixti, is a published author and is working on his second novel (among many other things).

Anyway, he’s also Dark Gaia Studios and has just put up a site dedicated to Legionwood 2: Chapter One that you may want to check out. You can download the demo to try out for free or buy the first chapter (which is set for a February 28, 2014 release) outright for a measly five dollars. According to the author, Chapter One will offer:

15+ hours of classic RPG gameplay.
Dozens of minigames and sidequests to discover.
Hundreds of different character configurations.
Over 80 intelligent and dangerous foes.
Non-linear game that makes your choices count.
Multiple endings.

In addition, the first Legionwood as well as Dark Gaia’s other games can be found HERE (and they’re all free!). Pop on by and take a peek at the man’s work, I say – he’s got some talent to spare, that’s for sure…

Random Film of the Week(end): Planet of the Apes (2001)

Posted on January 25, 2014 by geelw

Thanks to reports from around the internet and a few periodicals about all sorts of problems during the pre-production phase and more issues during the rather speedy shooting schedule to meet a July release imposed by 20th Century Fox, I certainly didn’t want to see the otherwise reliable Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake, but my mother sure did.

I was camping out at her place during that summer after a breakup and on the day the film opened, she pretty much rolled up on me and said we were going to the movies, so off we went. The funny thing was 33 years earlier, she took me, my older brother and sister to see the original film (my first movie experience), so I guess she was trying to jog my memory a bit out of the funk mode it was in. Well, that worked to a point as we both ended up not liking this remake much at all.

Of course, I ended up heading back to that theater a few days later to make sure I was sure I didn’t like the film… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week: PRISON

Posted on January 24, 2014 by geelw

Let me tell you, kids… Scared Straight has NOTHING on Renny Harlin’s PRISON. Hell, If they showed this released in 1988 flick on TV and in schools, instead of some hard-timing losers screaming at kids about staying out of trouble, I’d bet you a hot nickel that the rate of incarceration in America would be at an all-time low. Seriously, this film is SO messed up and mean and shot in an actual closed prison with actual inmates from another joint so there’s a solid sense of verisimilitude here that’s amplified into the haunted realm by the ghost of an executed killer out for some bloody reeeee-venge.

This film is also important for a few reasons horror and fantasy fans should appreciate. For one, it got Harlin the job directing Nightmare on Elm Street 4 which was his “big” American genre film break and led to others over the years both good and bad. It’s also Viggo Mortensen’s first movie appearance in a leading role and we all know where his career went as the years went by. As for this nugget of methodical madness, it’s a pretty effective blend of genre jail flick and atmospheric horror featuring some nicely gory moments plus one of the funniest random deaths I’ve ever seen in any film… Continue reading →

RAMBO: The Videogame Update: Prepare To Fly Out Of Your Seat On A Friday…

Posted on January 24, 2014 by geelw

BOOM. Reef Entertainment and developer Teyron have been quite busy it seems. This understatement of the week has been brought to you by no fewer that four videos they’ve just posted of their upcoming multiplatform RAMBO game in action that show off lots of stuff blowing up, a fairly high digital body count and overall, a game that isn’t screaming anything but pure guilty pleasure out of the gate for folks who like this sort of thing.

Continue reading →

This Week’s Humble Weekly Sale: Roguelikes Like Rogues Like Me…

Posted on January 23, 2014 by geelw

Gyaaah. Here I am, JUST writing about a fine and dandy new(ish) RPG I’m in love with (see previous post) and what happens? The folks at Humble Bundle read my mind and come up with an EVIL PLAN to take more money from me, grrr. And for a six buck minimum, I’m going to let them. As my backlog is so stupidly massive, I’ve only played a few demos of some of these and wanted to pick them up when I had the time (and yes, when there was an appropriate sale or something). Well, I guess the time is ripe for me to go ba-na-nas on this deal and add MORE games to the digital warehouse of stuff I need to get to as I free up time. Wah! Anyway, six games and five complete soundtracks all for the taking.

Oh well. Such is the life I lead. Click. Buy. BOUGHT. *Sob*, oh, my poor backlog…

Heroes of a Broken Land Hands-On: No School Like The Old School (Again)…

Posted on January 23, 2014 by geelw

The ONLY reason I didn’t slap down that fifteen bucks for Heroes of a Broken Land right away after I saw that trailer the other day was there was a demo to try out and I love demos. Needless to say, it got downloaded and played for a bit and yes indeed, the game is quite fantastic on a few levels. For starters, it looks and plays exactly like a hybrid of Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder and one of those great Dreamforge RPGs with dashes of Wizardry and even a little Heroes of Might and Magic tossed into the pot for good measure. If all those names and titles baffle you and you’re looking at that trailer and thinking “But it’s so ugly!”, feel free to turn right around and point your body towards the door (a little more to the left… Okay!), then lean forward slightly so my foot lands in the right spot. *Boot!*

Everyone else, there’s a fresh kettle on and tea cups a plenty in the kitchen. Oh, and some cookies are on the counter… Continue reading →

A Winter’s Tale, By Simon Bar Sinister…

Posted on January 22, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, bullwinklecanada!)

Ah, so THAT explains everything. Well, sort of. This snow we’ve gotten around here has been odd for a few interesting reasons. Sure, it’s winter, but it’s not a normal winter at all, kids. In fact, I’ll bet you an old penny that Simon Bar Sinister has a big Polar Vortex machine up in a lab somewhere and it’s getting a hell of a workout all of a sudden. Someone call Underdog (again!), as that man needs his butt kicked but good. And Cad? Yeah, buddy… you’re going down as well, grrrr…

Man, It’s COLD Outside. Arnold? Do Your Thing…

Posted on January 22, 2014 by geelw

Ah, thanks man! You’re always there when I need ya, pal… Wait, what? Did you say “LIFT” and not “LIVE”? Hey! You got one of the best damn lines you’re world famous for wrong, dude. Oh, wait… I get it. You’re doing yet ANOTHER charity event. Oh great, now instead of getting a rescue and a ride home in that choppa, I get to go allll the way out to Califoirnia just to see you ham it up for a good cause:

*Sigh* I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself. Arnold, you’re a total nut. But you’re kind of OK, warts and all. Now fly me home already. It may be a freezing hell in NYC, but at least we have no drought to deal with (er, yet)…

Clip Joint: ROBOCOP (Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away…)

Posted on January 22, 2014 by geelw

So, the clips are rolling out and some would say “spoiling” this reboot, but I don’t quite think so. In fact, I think they go a long way in showing the film is going to be better than some jaded online wags have been saying. Granted, the original is hard to top on a few KEY fronts, but from what I’m seeing here, this doesn’t look bad at all. Heck, I’ll buy THAT clip above for a dollar!

Some are griping about he black suit over the silver/opalescent color from the Paul Verhoeven film, but I think the new flick’s black outfit is pretty cool in its own right. Sure, if this was “real”, a more matte finish would be the way to go for night ops, but that’s only something I’d heard in a conversation and not my own opinion. It was a pretty hilarious discussion, though.

This one’s my favorite clip because we ALL have those dreams that are nice and lovely and getting to the good part and then *BOOM*, you get knocked awake and you’re back in the real world with your day screwed up because your sleep was interrupted. Stupid alarm/hungry pet/cranky kid/spouse/boss/person yelling at you to wake up because you’re napping when you’re SUPPOSED to be steering that bus! Anyway, welcome back to the real world. Now keep those eyes open until you get home, pal.

Paper Sorcerer Now Available On Steam: And With A Hook, You’re IN The Book!

Posted on January 22, 2014 by geelw

And the people have spoken! Paper Sorcerer is now on Steam! Yes, it’s still five bucks and yes, it’s been tweaked up a bit since my review. You can play using your keyboard and mouse or if you like configure a USB controller (a wired Xbox 360 one is recommended) if you’re more used to that means of playing games. Finally, new to the Steam version are 39 Achievements, which means I’ll need to play this version at some point just to see what they are.

Yeah it’s a short post, but hey – it’s FREEZING in here today and as noted earlier, my poor brain isn’t working as well as it needs to. Brrrr. I need to get the heck home soon and curl up with a good book, methinks…