Podcasts
The Inventory March 2023: ‘Resident Evil 4 Remake’, ‘Dredge’, ‘Diablo IV’ & More Reviewed [Safe Room Podcast]
Before listening to this month’s edition of The Inventory: Safe Room’s review show, check out last week’s review of The Last of Us: Season 1!
It is pretty unbelievable that within the first quarter of 2023, horror fans have been graced with not one but TWO strong remakes of modern horror classics. January’s release of Dead Space set a new benchmark since 2019’s Resident Evil 2 remake. Improving on the original game’s outdated mechanics and giving it the functionality gamers would expect from a more modern game design. Dead Space also being gorgeous didn’t hurt.
But with Resident Evil 4, there was added pressure. To put it lightly, Capcom’s Resident Evil 3 remake fell short of the high mark set by the Resident Evil 2 remake. Cut content and fundamental changes to elements that made the original Resident Evil 3 such a robust series standout didn’t exactly sit well with a portion of the fanbase.
This raised questions regarding their tackling Resident Evil 4, such as: How much will they change? What, if anything, will be cut? Will it resemble the original while having modern mends to game design that is almost 20 years old at this point?
We unpack these questions and more in this month’s edition of The Inventory: Safe Room’s review show, in which we discuss Resident Evil 4, the Diablo IV beta, Dredge, and more! Below is the full list of what we’ve reviewed in this episode.
- Anemoiaplolis – A fantastic use of liminal spaces in this surreal title.
- Diablo IV Beta – The devil is in the details of Blizzard’s latest demonic adventure
- Dredge – Cosmic Horror meets Fishing Sim in this superb title from Black Salt Games.
- Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse – The fourth Fatal Frame game makes its Western debut in this remaster.
- The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners 1&2 – The Walking Dead lives on in Skydance’s PSVR 2 survival series
- The Dark Pictures Switchback VR – A fairground ride with some teeth in Supermassive Games’ PSVR 2 debut.
- Resident Evil 4 – The iconic survival horror game returns with some new tricks up its sleeves.
Be sure to check back next week for April’s edition of Horror Bytes: Safe Room’s bite-sized indie horror game segment!
Safe Room is a weekly horror video game discussion podcast with new episodes every Monday on
iTunes/Apple, Sticher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Linktree for additional streaming services.
Feel free to follow the show and hosts on Twitter:
Game Loop.
Trace and I inadvertently bookended our April discussions of John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London (listen) and Ciarán Foy’s Eli (listen) with Jude Law films. At the start of the month, we tackled Matt Damon’s Italian grifter in The Talented Mr. Ripley (listen) and now we’re closing out April with David Cronenberg‘s eXistenZ (1999).
The unofficial sequel to Videodrome (listen) and precursor to Crimes of the Future, eXistenZ takes place in the world of virtual reality and simulation. Game goddess Allegra Gellar (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is forced to go on the run with PR nerd Ted Pikul (Jude Law) through the Canadian backwoods when ‘Realist’ terrorists declare open season on her life.
Featuring no shortage of strange encounters and oddball characters, including Willem Dafoe‘s queer-coded Gas and Canadian film royalty like Don McKellar and Sarah Polley, Allegra and Ted must travel between the real world and the game world, all the while keeping track of who is friendly…and who is foe.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, and RSS.
Episode 279: eXistenZ (1999) feat Vannah Taylor
Lube up your industry standard bio-port because we’re playing David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ (1999) with someone friendly: Vannah Taylor!
David Cronenberg’s meditation on the dangers of gaming and simulation is the middle entry of an unofficial trilogy. It’s also a film that gets real confusing, real fast, so good luck figuring out if we’re still in the game!
Plus: criticisms of a “bland” game world, praise for Jennifer Jason Leigh, Canadian royalty, comparisons to Serenity, disgusting gristle guns, and Pikul getting his back blown out (several times!)
Cross out eXistenZ!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re continuing our celebration of 1999 films with a look at Stephen Sommers’ bisexual awakening, action adventure film, The Mummy (1999).
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 306 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S01E04, Late Night with the Devil, The First Omen, Femme, Abigail and a brand new audio commentary on the original The Omen (1976).
‘Infested’ Review – One of the Best Spiders Attack Horror Movies in Years
‘The King Tide’: An Island Town Rots with Moral Decay in Canadian Folk Horror Fable [Review]
Limited Edition Morticia & Wednesday Addams ‘Monster High’ Dolls Releasing Next Week!
TWO New ‘Evil Dead’ Movies Now in the Works; Sébastien Vaniček & Francis Galluppi Directing
“AHS: Delicate” Review – ‘The Auteur’ Gives Birth to a Lackluster, Laughable Finale
