After all, constantly playing as the victim can get old after a while, and there’s a reason why the chainsaw is one of gaming’s most popular recurring weapons. And after reflecting on these primitive urges, we’ve come up with this list celebrating six memorable horror games where you get to play as the monster!

While this list is obviously based on personal opinion, we’ll be limiting entries to offline single-player games only as the abundance of licensed movie monsters makes games like Dead by Daylight and Friday the 13^th a little too easy to recommend. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorites if you think we missed a particularly fun game.

Now, onto the list…

6. Naughty Bear

I love Behaviour Interactive’s Naughty Bear to death (probably because of all the fond memories of showing it to unsuspecting friends), but I have no illusions about it being a traditionally “good” videogame. Both the graphics and mechanics are rough around the edges and the story leaves a lot to be desired, but even the harshest of critics have to admit that this bizarre little murder simulator is at the very least memorable.

Combining slasher flicks with cartoon violence and cuddly teddy bears, this 80s-set oddity is a love letter to both the horror genre and stealth-adventure titles like Hitman. It’s not exactly a masterpiece, but this seemingly contradictory mix of ideas ends up creating a surprisingly fun cocktail.

If you’ve ever chuckled at an episode of Happy Tree Friends, I’d highly recommend checking this one out.

5. Bioshock 2

Bio-engineered brutes capable of drilling both players and enemy splicers into oblivion, the lumbering Big Daddies were the most memorable (and terrifying) part of the original Bioshock. That’s why 2K decided to focus on these monsters in the sequel by having the protagonist be a rogue Big Daddy searching for his long-lost daughter.

This return to the doomed city of Rapture may not be quite as impactful as our first visit, but there’s no denying that playing as a Big Daddy makes the combat experience much more fun. Drilling holes into enemies never gets old, and the protagonist’s tragic backstory makes this a worthy (if overly familiar) voyage into murky waters.

4. Alien vs Predator 2 (2001)

Before Paul W.S. Anderson finally had these extraterrestrial titans fight each other on the big screen in 2004, the AvP franchise was mostly relegated to comics and videogames. And of these interactive entries, Monolith’s Alien vs Predator 2 became the most popular due to its addicting gameplay and intertwining campaigns. While both the human and Yautja missions are incredibly fun, it’s the Xenomorph portion of the game that guarantees its spot on this list.

Following the complete life cycle of a Xenomorph, the Alien campaign was an especially fun treat for horror hounds during a time when movie licenses were usually considered bad news for gamers. Not only could you eat enemy heads and impale them with your spear-tipped tail, but the title also allowed for gravity-defying (and occasionally nausea-inducing) traversal that still hasn’t been replicated in modern titles.

Plus, you gotta love those movie-accurate screeches.

3. Lucius

From Silent Hill’s Alessa to FEAR’s Alma, the “evil child” trope is almost as common in gaming as it is in movies. That being said, there’s only one game that allows you to actually play as the pint-sized offspring of Satan, and that would be Shiver Games’ Lucius. Clearly inspired by The Omen, this indie Finnish title mixes adventure gaming with homicidal puzzle-solving and stealth mechanics in a surprisingly fresh experience.

Sure, the missions are a bit too linear and the gameplay is somewhat janky, but I think horror fans are sure to appreciate what basically amounts to a young Antichrist simulator. And if you like this one, the developers also produced a couple of sequels!

2. Carrion

If you’ve ever watched John Carpenter’s The Thing and wished that you could also terrorize and consume human beings as a fleshy blob of pure evil, then Phobia Game Studio’s Carrion is perfect for you! Putting players in the amorphous shoes of a shoggoth-like creature, this puzzling side-scroller becomes more complex (not to mention more violent) as your disgusting creature grows and mutates.

Boasting beautifully pixelated graphics and a surprisingly engaging story, this brief yarn about an eldritch being attempting to escape containment is a must-play for fans of Lovecraftian horror and unique metroidvanias alike.

I’d just recommend avoiding snacks while playing through this one.

1. The Darkness

While it’s technically adapted from Top Cow’s eponymous super-hero comic, Starbreeze Studios’ The Darkness is the epitome of having players embody a monster, encouraging gamers to pick off mobsters one by one as they methodically destroy lightbulbs and eat human hearts to become more powerful. I mean, can you name any other super-hero game that ends with your character becoming literally consumed by evil after a vengeful murder-spree?

And if allowing you to harness the power of a literal demon (brought to life by Faith No More frontman Mike Patton) isn’t enough, the title also boasts a truly compelling story that somehow manages to surpass its source material while still being one of the best comic-book adaptations out there.

Not too shabby for a videogame based on a Spawn knock-off…

The post The Other Side of the Chainsaw: Six Horror Video Games Where YOU Are the Monster! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Different developers, unnecessary multiplayer, and the strange hook of letting you play as a Big Daddy, the previous game’s iconic set of minibosses, all tempered expectations from fans. Critics ended up treating the game rather favorably, but it failed to exceed the sales of the original. Now, 10 years after its release, it might be time for Bioshock 2 to finally get its due as the most satisfying game in the series.

One of the biggest disadvantages that Bioshock 2 has compared to the original is it doesn’t have that same wow factor. Bioshock has one of the all-time great openings, slowly showing you the beautiful, decaying city of Rapture, throwing you into the deep end and filling in details bit by bit. The first time you fight a Big Daddy is such a memorable combat encounter with one of the most iconic enemies in video games. Not to say that the second game doesn’t have great art design, but it just doesn’t have the same wonder seeing it the second time around. 

Another controversial choice that turned off some was casting the player as a Big Daddy, but this turns out to be one of the game’s strongest assets. I always have to think a bit to remember any details about Jack, the first game’s protagonist, but I always can quickly remember that Bioshock 2 casts you as a Big Daddy named Subject Delta who is trying to find your Little Sister. 

Since we already have been introduced to the world, the game instead tries to expand on that mythology and create a more personal story.  When Bioshock came out, it was heavily praised for its story, with emphasis on the big “Would you kindly” twist of the game and what it says about the nature of the medium. Bioshock 2 doesn’t try to work on a metatextual level in that regard, instead, reigning in the focus and telling a much more emotional tale. 

The way Bioshock 2 changes your relationship with the Little Sisters is also another significant thing to come out playing as a Big Daddy. In the first game, after defeating a Big Daddy you were given the option to either free the Little Sister from their horrific duty or harvest them, killing them to recover more of their precious ADAM. Many critics praised this choice, saying that it gave moral weight to an already philosophical game, but in retrospect, the choice wasn’t all that deep. Do you murder the innocent girl or not isn’t exactly the trolley problem, and there didn’t really end up being that much of a discrepancy between the two paths because you receive a bonus for saving all the sisters, evening out anything you would gain from harvesting. 

The sequel adds a wrinkle that not only complicates the moral choice, but also adds an incredibly thematic mode of play. After rescuing a Little Sister, you are given the option to harvest or adopt them. Adopting them gives you an almost tower defense-like experience where you try to protect the Little Sister while she goes about her duty of harvesting ADAM from nearby corpses. Afterward, you are again presented with the option to harvest or save the Little Sister and will be rewarded in a similar manner to the first game. It’s a smart way to use the already established lore (this is the role of the Big Daddy) to create a gameplay section that takes advantage of the trap-based arsenal that the player builds throughout the game. 

This option to allow the Little Sister to go about her duty also complicates the game morally, making the “good” decision of adopting then freeing the Little Sister actually more work gameplay-wise. If you truly want to add an ethical dilemma to the game, it shouldn’t be something that’s balanced and optimized to make sure both paths get even resources, but rather should have more work or less reward for doing the “right” thing, to truly test the player. 

This morality test carries over smartly to the multiple endings of the game as well. The first game featured this as well, but much of the impact of the finale of the game was overshadowed by the famous “Would you kindly?” twist that happens prior to the end. Since Bioshock 2 features more of an emotional core, the multiple endings have a stronger resonance. Not to spoil anything, but your choices end up directly influencing the behavior of the Little Sister you are rescuing, making important points about the nature of legacy and how we learn from the behavior of mentors and parents in our lives. 

On top of this improved emotional core to the story, there are also many quality of life improvements made to the combat in the game that make it feel tighter than the first one. Players can dual wield a plasmid power alongside a gun, giving you more tools to mix and match your attacks in interesting ways. The wide variety of plasmids, weapons and enhancement tonics you can mix allows you to create proper builds for your character with meaningfully different tactics in combat.

Do you focus on upgrading your melee skill and doing area of effect damage to be a close-range fighter? Do you upgrade your weapons to focus on traps and equip the more stealthy enhancements allowing you to fight from the shadows? This variety of choice empowers the player to play the game how they would like to, making for a compelling combat experience that refines what was strong about the original. 

Sometimes I think putting two in the title was one of the things that set up the expectations to be too high. Giving it a number makes people think that it’s going to be a substantial iteration on the core game, but what was given was more of substantial expansion. At one point, it was going to be called Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams, and maybe going with just that subtitle would have set up expectations better. Bioshock: Sea of Dreams communicates more clearly that it’s not going to be a radical shift enough to be a sequel, but rather another story set in the world players are familiar with, with some key quality of life improvements made to the gameplay.

Much like how Silent Hill 2 took what worked about the first one and added more polish and emotional depth in a familiar but no longer surprising setting, Bioshock 2 refined the first game and made something that, while not as much of a sea change (pun intended), is likely an overall better experience. 

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An entry on the Taiwan Digital Game Rating Committee’s website was posted for BioShock: The Collection for the Nintendo Switch, as well as individual entries for BioShock Remastered, BioShock 2 Remastered, and BioShock Infinite: The Complete Edition. There’s been no confirmation from 2K regarding these ports to the Switch, but it’s still an interesting possibility to have a portable version of BioShock.

BioShock: The Collection first launched for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC back in September 2016.

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The photos were posted to the BioShock subreddit, and have predictably gotten an amazing response. Granted, there was some Photoshopping involved, but it was minimal. “There was light editing done to bring up my costumes lights, to combat the lights we had on set,” explains Jaime. Overall, the whole process took “about 3 months and all day on the weekends.”

You can check out more shots from the shoot on Jaime’s Instagram. As for when we’ll be seeing the return of the BioShock franchise, 2K is apparently working on it.

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Holy rumor mill, Batman!
Let's clear up a few things:
YES we are making Bioshock cocktails
YES we are unveiling new Forklift content in VR
YES we'll have a big announcement near the end…
NO, it is NOT Bioshock related (nor is it Forklift related)

— Blind Squirrel Games (@Blind_Squirrel_) December 18, 2018

Funny how yesterday, we had the announcement about the remastered versions of BioShockand BioShock 2 heading to GOG.com. Today, we’ve got an interesting announcement (or rather, an impending one) from Blind Squirrel Games. It seems that we’re in for a VR version of BioShock!

Tomorrow at 2! Tune in for a super special #Twitch stream: The #BSG Holiday Special! Join us for holiday Bioshocktails, more #ForkliftSimulator2019, festive shenanigans, and… We've got a big surprise in store.#Bioshock #BlindSquirrelGames #VR https://t.co/X2Xp3FOmhj

— Blind Squirrel Games (@Blind_Squirrel_) December 17, 2018

Obviously, nothing’s confirmed yet (including platforms), but we’ll find out tomorrow when Blind Squirrel has their Twitch stream at 2PM PST/5PM EST. It’s been five years going on six since BioShock Infinite, so until 2K finally spills the beans on that rumoured next game in the series, at least we have something definitely cool (and terrifying) to look forward to in the new year.

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And yes, in case you’re wondering, the classic versions of both games will be added as a free bonus at a later date.

The post ‘BioShock’ And ‘BioShock 2’ Remastered Arrive on GOG.com, With 75% Discount appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In a Kotaku article (yeah, I know) regarding last year’s Mafia III, and its impact on its developer, Hangar 13 (which subsequently went through layoffs after the game’s release), the author of the article mentions that some of the crew who worked on Mafia III had left Hanger 13 and “moved to the top-secret studio next door to work on an unannounced new BioShock game.”

Codenamed Parkside, the game is still very early in development, with only a small team at the moment to avoid overstaffing. The article does explain that not everyone who left Hanger 13 was able to join the 2K Games studio next door, and those who did were understandably “very tight-lipped” when asked about Parkside.

The last time we heard from BioShock in general was last year with its 10th Anniversary release (and its Big Daddy statue). And before that was 2013’s superb BioShock Infinite. 2K have stated that they’d like to revisit the series, calling it “unquestionably a permanent franchise,” and even hinted at a new entry in their November 2017 fiscal report.

It’s all just hearsay at the moment, but the idea to revisit the world of BioShock is more than welcome.

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Each game and all previously released single-player DLC have been optimized to run at “up to” 60 fps with support for 1080p HD. The multiplayer mode that was introduced in the second game will not return, but the bundle does come with the commentary featurette Imagining BioShock, starring director Ken Levine and lead artist Shawn Roberston. You might call this a circus of value.

The collection is headed to PC, PS4 and Xbox One on September 13 in North America, September 15 in Australia, and September 16 everywhere else. It’ll cost $60, unless you already own the first two games and/or the Minerva’s Den DLC on Steam, then you can upgrade to the remastered versions free-of-charge.

The post ‘BioShock: The Collection’ Sure Looks Pretty appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

BioShock: The Collection still isn’t official, though it has been listed by South African retailer Raru, and by ratings boards in Brazil and Taiwan. The few precious details we have came from those three sources, which also mentioned a release on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

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The listing doesn’t offer much in the way of details, and aside from the occasional reminder that BioShock is still a priority for 2K Marin even though the company has kept frustratingly tight-lipped on its future since series creator Irrational Games closed its doors almost exactly two years ago.

“They’ll make announcements in due time about any upcoming releases,” explained Take-Two head honcho Strauss Zelnick last November. “BioShock is unquestionably a permanent franchise for our company and one that we do believe in.”

If those words sound familiar, it’s because we’ve heard them a myriad time before whenever Remedy gets asked about Alan Wake or when EA has to remind us how much they still care about Dead Space. We’re going to get more BioShock, just as we’ll almost certainly get another Alan Wake and Dead Space. The problem is how long these sequels take to load.

The BioShock Collection has strange company in Dead Island: Retro Revenge and Days Gone, which were both leaked by ratings boards just this year.

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Let’s look at some examples, shall we?

For Resident Evil, for example. Ever since Capcom made the misguided decision to try and shoehorn a competitive element into Resident Evil 5, much of the DLC revolved around new multiplayer modes that most people had absolutely no interest in playing. That kills the multiplayer mode right there by fragmenting the audience that’s active online.

Resident Evil 5 wasn’t all bad. It also gave us Desperate Escape and Lost in Nightmares, the latter of which was surprisingly great and a welcome return to the series’ roots in survival horror.

Then there’s Capcom’s other zombie franchise: Dead Rising. Looking specifically at the latest game, which saw an impressive amount of post-release attention from the publisher in the form of five story expansions. I can’t speak for the final add-on, but I did play the other four, and they were universally terrible for reasons I’ve already gone over.

Capcom may be one of the worst offenders, but they certainly aren’t alone. We need only to look toward gaming’s other popular open-world zombie series to see another awful example of how to mishandle DLC, this time for the Techland-developed Dead Island games.

The Bloodbath Arena was a waste of time for most, mostly because there were already many other series that had implemented similar modes, ranging from Halo to Resident Evil, Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty, among others. We have Gears of War to thank for that massively popular trend.

I won’t even go into the Ryder White expansion, because it’s really not worth reliving.

Unfortunately, it seems as if Deep Silver hasn’t learned as much as I would’ve liked, because the season pass contents of Dying Light — an otherwise great game — don’t sound like they’re going to make it worth returning to the game, if you’ve already beaten it.

Even Dead Space has struggled with this. The second game’s Severed expansion had an interesting narrative, but that wasn’t enough to make the fact that most of its paltry running-time was made up of back-tracking. Dead Space 3: Awakened was a small step up, but that, too, wasn’t as good as it could’ve been.

There are plenty of other examples out there, but I’m getting bummed out, so let’s cleanse our mental palates by recognizing a few of the games that have been considerably more successful.

Minerva’s Den managed to be more thoughtful and refreshing than BioShock 2, Left Behind managed the impressive feat of being as memorable as The Last of Us, the Left 4 Dead series DLC wasn’t perfect, but most of it was good stuff.

Horror-themed DLC shouldn’t fail as often as it does. This genre works great when it’s consumed in smaller portions, much like what episodic games are doing right now. More developers are realizing this and exploring it with their own games, like Resident Evil Revelations 2, Alan Wake, Siren: Blood Curse and Telltale’s The Walking Dead, among others.

Then there’s my favorite: Alan Wake.

With its themes of light vs. dark, it’s fitting that Alan Wake may be the shining beacon for how to use DLC to add to the experience in meaningful ways. Both The Signal and The Writer were fantastic, thoughtful and new experiences.

I think this is partly why horror-themed DLC for non-horror games works so well. The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned was a great addition to Borderlands, as was Red Dead Redemption’s standalone expansion, Undead Nightmare, and inFAMOUS did a fine job honoring my favorite holiday, Halloween, with its vampire-themed Festival of Blood expansion.

So what’s going on here? Why does the quality of the post-release support that horror games receive underwhelm so often, when this same problem doesn’t seem to be quite as severe for other genres?

It is worth mentioning that there are signs that this trend could be becoming less of a problem. Alien: Isolation has received a ton of DLC, and much of it has been rather good. There’s also The Evil Within, which is scheduled to receive the first of three planned add-ons next month with The Assignment. It looks interesting, but it’s too early to tell.

I’m not bringing this topic up because I have a solution. Outside of asking developers to put a little more thought into the post-release support they give their games, or refusing to buy the particularly bad stuff until they up their game, there’s not much we can do.

The reason I wanted to write about this is because I do think this is a legitimate problem, and as a life-long fan of the horror genre, I’d really like to see it vanquished as soon as possible so I can have a reason to return to the horror games I’ve completed because there’s a new bit of DLC that looks worth my time. And yours.

Granted, this could just be me. I don’t think it is, but it’s possible.

So I’ll leave it to you.

The post The Hunt for Meaningful DLC in Horror Games appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Below are the minimum specs your PC is going to need to run BioShock Infinite.

Sound Card: DirectX Compatible

The post ‘BioShock Infinite’ PC Specs Revealed, Also The Ultimate Rapture Edition appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The Ultimate Rapture Edition will release on January 14th for $29.99 — a fantastic deal even if you’ve already played the games — and will include everything below:

Plasmids Pack: Includes four additional Plasmids and Gene Tonics – Sonic Boom, EVE Saver, Vending Expert and Machine Buster – for use in BioShock.
Challenge Rooms Pack: Previously exclusive to PS3 and now available for Xbox 360 for the first time, the pack tests the player’s mettle by requiring them to utilize the skills learned while traversing the halls of Rapture to survive three separate puzzle rooms in BioShock.
Sinclair Solutions Tester: Contains a number of customization features that allow players to further their character’s development in BioShock 2 multiplayer modes and provides a deeper multiplayer experience.
Rapture Metro: Includes six additional multiplayer maps, an additional multiplayer gameplay mode and a rank increase to level 50 for BioShock 2 multiplayer.
The Protector Trials: Features frantic combat and fast-paced action designed to push players’ mastery of weapons and Plasmids in a BioShock 2 single-player experience spread across six maps.
Minerva’s Den: A substantial narrative experience that puts players in the role Subject Sigma and introduces new characters, locations and mystery to the world of Rapture in BioShock 2. Set in a new environment, Rapture Central Computing, Minerva’s Den adds a gripping new storyline to extend the BioShock 2 experience.
A Museum of Orphaned Concepts — an in-game museum of concept and character art.

I’m bummed there won’t be something related to Infinite, which releases on March 26. Even still, this is an amazing bundle for any BioShock fan who owns a PS3 or Xbox 360 and is itching to return to Rapture.

Have a question? Feel free to ever-so-gently toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting.

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Concert program:

The post Hear The Music From Bioshock, Bioshock 2 And Dante’s Inferno Live In California appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

You can pick it up right now for 800 space bucks, or 10 dollars on the Xbox 360, and Playstation 3.

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Luckily, this is a rather great time for big news. June gifted us with E3 and all the goods that comes with it, and now we have arguably the second biggest event for gamers and geeks: Comic Con. So, assuming your mind hasn’t been fried by that evil yellow ball we call the sun, why don’t you read on to get caught up on the biggest happenings with Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil, Dead Space, Alan Wake, and slew of other amazing titles that will have you screaming like a tween girl (or grown man, no one’s judging here) at a Justin Bieber concert, assuming you’ve kept hydrated. If you haven’t you’ll probably just make a harsh croaking sound, and no one wants that.

What better way to escape the seething globe of burning death then by playing a game that takes place almost exclusively at night? Take that sun! The first bonus episode is out now for the game, entitled The Signal, and after having played it through I can say without a doubt its worth the price. Now, you might be wondering to yourself what that means since the DLC came free to those who bought the game new, but it’s also worth the 560 points ($7.00) it’ll cost everyone else.

The Signal is a little longer than the average Alan Wake episode (it took me a little under two hours to beat) and while it’s a little lacking in story, the extra flashlight kickassery alone makes it worthwhile. I should also mention the Verizon Wireless tagline (“Can you hear me now?”) that pops up during a phone conversation (on a Verizon phone no less) with that Big Daddy/Marshmallow Man hybrid that’s worthy of a serious facepalm.

Ever been in the middle of a L4D 2 match where your team is so far ahead it’s common knowledge that the other team has absolutely no chance of winning the game? Unfortunately, when a team discovers they won’t be winning they tend to quit. This issue of players quitting has become so prominent (apparently, all gamers are sore loser baby faces) we’ve given this sad event a name: rage quitting.

Now Rage Quitters can rejoice, because Valve is working on a patch that will make losing a little more bearable. Disclaimer: this patch will not affect your skill, so you’ll still suck at the game. Sorry.

Included in the patch are some fixes for the Charger, who will now be rewarded 300 points for insta-killing a survivor, 100 for insta-incapping, and now any infected that causes a survivor to stumble into a ledge hang will have 50 points bestowed upon their score. For the Tank, now he enters an invisible (for the survivors) stasis mode until he’s under the control of a human. This means you won’t spawn into a Tank that’s on fire or who’s lost health while it waited to be controlled. Also, bullets that hit an Infected before hitting a survivor will be ignored, so yay for that.

But that’s not all. For those among us who are huge fans of the game you should definitely consider checking out the Tank statue that’s currently in development by Gamingheads. It doesn’t have a price tag yet, but it’s sure to be awesome.

Have the recent multiplayer map packs gotten a little dull? Looking for a reason to dust off your copy of BioShock 2? Next month we’ll be getting some new single-player DLC called the Protector Trials, that will include a lot more of something that’s already pretty damn common in the game: protecting Little Sisters.

Included in the DLC are six maps taken from locations in the campaign and some new achievements. So are you interested? I’m sure there are quite a few gamers out there that enjoyed that feature in the game and are therefore excited for this DLC, but I think I’m going to go ahead and wait for the story-driven single-player DLC that’s still “on the way.”

And in related news, the BioShock film is still on the way, though it is still having a few setbacks that are supposedly related to the R rating they’re trying to keep. I can’t imagine a PG-13 BioShock film being very good, so if that really is the only reason than I’m alright with waiting a little longer.

What were they going to call it? Metro 2033 2? Maybe they could’ve gone with a tagline; something along the lines of Metro 2033: Hey, We Fixed the Crappy Shooting? Or since the game will be 3D, they could’ve changed it to Metro 2033D? No, 2034 sounds better, but the cover art better be very different or I’m predicting some seriously pissed off gamers who accidentally bought the wrong game. I also predict me being one of those people, as I never did pay much attention.

What would you like to see in this sequel? Obviously, on the top of my list is the shooting, which was far from good. I’d also like to be able to ride some sort of mutated animal, something I can name, feed, and talk to when I’m lonely in the empty wasteland. But you know the best thing about this game? It takes place in a wasteland where the sun has been blotted out by a nuclear winter, and in the middle of the sweaty bum fileld summer, it’s nice to see the sun defeated.

I own a PS3 and Xbox 360, but I tend to lean toward the latter when it comes to multiplatform games. For the most part, this can be blamed on my undying affection towards achievements. I love them and I can’t help it. Dead Space 2 might be an exception with the recently announced limited edition that’s exclusive to the PS3 and includes a Move enabled Dead Space: Extraction.

I’m also seriously considering getting a shiny new Rig backpack; despite its bordering on a too cartoony look, it’s just so amazing.

Flickr user Mrksarri has taken the time to zombify the cast of Super Mario, showing us what Mario, Luigi, Toad and the like would look like if they were bitten by the undead. This makes me fantasize about how amazing a zombie Mario game would be. Just take a second and imagine this with me: you’ve just defeated Bowser only to realize you have a growing hunger for human flesh.

Thankfully, Peach is only a few feet away, so you take a bite out of her, ending this frustrating chase for the princess once and for all. Then, after you’ve completed the game, the camera pans to the mutilated, bite-ridden corpse of the once glorious Peach and stops on her face. As the camera zooms slowly toward her lifeless eyes, they suddenly rush open, and the credits roll. Did you feel that shiver of excitement that just crawled up your spine? This could usher in a new age of Mario games that aren’t so vibrant and adorable. When children hear Mario’s name they’ll fear it, and that’s the way it should be.

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I don’t have a problem with the multiplayer itself, but with the insane glitching. I’m constantly ending up in games that are lagging terribly. Even worse, the game will freeze mid game, or even right before a games end. There is no coming back from a freeze. You have to turn your system off. Which means you lose all the experience points you worked so hard to get during the game it freezes on. I’ve lost thousands of points because of frozen games. On top of the time it takes me to restart the Xbox and get back into another game.

The multiplayer was looking to stay in my regular rotation of online multiplayer games. Alongside Halo, Gears, and Left 4 Dead. But as of right now I’m going to trudge up to level 40 so I can earn my 1000 Achievement Points, and stick this game back on the shelf until maybe I feel like playing the single player again. Or until the next DLC is released. Has anyone else been having as many problems as I? Or am I off my rocker?

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Now, this is usually where I take ailing franchises Silent Hill or ones that have lost their way (like Resident Evil) and try and figure out how they can be brought back to their former glory. With that said, this one was quite a bit tougher to analyze since there really isn’t anything blatantly wrong with the BioShock series. Sure, the sequel didn’t capture our hearts and imaginations in the same way that the original did, but that can mostly be blamed on the fact that it was our second dive into the crumbling city of Rapture.

So how can the third game make the same gigantic splash that the original did? Who should you play as, and where should it take place? Should it be another sequel, or perhaps a prequel, to give us a taste of what Rapture was like before the fall. Read on to find out what I think the answers to these questions should be, and more, after the jump. When it comes to the gameplay, there are two things that have the biggest affect on it: the character you control and the environment you explore. In the original game you jumped into the shoes of a man looking to shed some light on his past. In the second, you took on the role of a prototype Big Daddy on a mission to save his Little Sister. There are three paths the third game can take, assuming it’s a sequel (a prequel opens up a myriad more possibilities): you can either control another human, another Big Daddy, or a Big Sister, which was introduced to us in the second game. I find the chances of playing as a Big Daddy again to be pretty low, and if we’re given another Average Joe (or, possibly, Average Jane?) to control than that could be fine and dandy as well. But what if we get to control a Big Sister?

Imagine the possibilities: in the first game you were human with no extraordinary talents (other than those allotted to you due to the fact that you’re playing a video game), than a lumbering, but still very agile, Big Daddy. Playing as a Big Sister would give us something very different from the previous two characters, since she’s extraordinarily fast and can navigate the broken terrain of Rapture with ease. You would exchange the brute force of a Big Daddy for speed and agility, and most likely, and we would be rid of those occasionally annoying ‘Defend the Little Sister’ sections because the Big Sister has a tool of her own to extract ADAM. By BioShock 4 we’ll be controlling a Perverted Uncle, then after that, who knows! Maybe a Big Tranny (a Big Daddy dressed as a Big Sister)! The possibilities are endless.

I recently thought of a possibly interesting idea for the next game and I wanted to throw it at you despite its rough edges. What if they included some sort of RTS mechanic into the game? Brutal Legend did it and succeeded, to some extent (though some may disagree with me on that, and with good reason). I don’t think it should be as prevalent and as forced as it was in Brutal Legend, but just take a second with me to imagine: imagine taking control of a Big Sister, the undisputed queen of Rapture with the ability to traverse Rapture quickly, ordering Little Sisters around to get ADAM. You could even trade your omnipresent prowess for temporary control of Big Daddies when defending gathering sisters. Just an idea, but in the right hands it might actually have the potential to be good. Even if it isn’t, I think changing up the genres a bit is a good idea. If RTS is out of the question than give us some more puzzles, or throw the game into full fledged horror by giving us less ammo, a normal human and a scary environment (more on that later).

Now, what about a prequel? From what I’ve been hearing from sources near 2K, this may very well end up being the route they end up taking, most likely because of the sheer amount of possibilities. With a prequel you can do almost anything, you can give us whatever character you want, the environment would already be different because (depending on when it takes place) we would be in Rapture before it began falling apart. You can bring back dead characters or introduce new ones, or even show us the origins of those we controlled in the previous games. Everything is both familiar and vastly different, without the degrading affect of time we could explore areas we did before and barely recognize them.

Whether BioShock 3 comes to us in the form of a sequel or a prequel, the biggest question is where it should take place. Rapture is just as iconic as the Big Daddies that roam around within it, but no matter what it looks like, returning to Rapture again might be too much. What if Sofia Lamb, the crazy bitch from the second game, decided to create another Rapture? Rapture 2.0? She didn’t agree with Andrew Ryan, and she had plenty of influence so it’s entirely possible. If she did, maybe she created it in another image, not of the art deco style we’ve come accustomed to. She seemed to be a bit of a looner, so perhaps she created a second Rapture in the outlandish style of Expressionism. It could be risky, but if done correctly it could also be pretty terrifying (perfect for survival horror).

Easily the most prominent change to the BioShock formula was the inclusion of a multiplayer that, sadly, was a little too generic. I’m not saying it wasn’t good, because it was actually a fine first foray into the world of tea bagging and violent name calling, but this is BioShock! Where’s the twist? The thing that makes it unique? Instead we were given Team Deathmatch, Free for All, and a Little Sister inspired Capture the Flag with few things to separate it from the plethora of other online titles that do it much better. Stop bitching, this isn’t a review, you proclaim? Good point. So how can multiplayer be done right, to be as unique and otherworldly as the game it’s a part of? That’s a tough question actually, and one I’m sure 2K asked itself at the beginning of BioShock 2’s production. Could the answer be co-op, or would that take away from the experience you have playing the game alone? What about competitive single player?

How about, instead of two (or possibly more) players going through the game together, why not set them against each other? Envision setting traps for your friend to unknowingly walk into, or getting to Little Sisters before your enemy can, so you can keep all the ADAM to yourself. Picture sharing the same goal as your opponent, whether that goal is to get to a specific area on the map first, or find the [place important item here] but instead of simply worrying about where that lumbering Big Daddy is, or where that group of Splicers are, you also have to worry about a much deadlier enemy. An enemy that, depending on their age, has the ability to outthink you, to outmaneuver you, to taunt you when you run into the traps. Another fairly rough concept, but an interesting one in my opinion. Standard cooperative play isn’t worthy of this franchise, in every game we’ve had a single archenemy, an ubiquitous obstacle: so why not make that another human player?

I’ve given these games a ton of praise, and even though a sequel wasn’t necessary since the original stood perfectly as a standalone title, it’s all about the money, and BioShock makes money. There has been one major problem with the series that has moved from the first game to the second, without 2K changing it up at all. This makes me wonder if they’ve noticed this issue, and before your head explodes with the obvious anticipation that I’ve just built up, the issue I’m referencing is the pointlessness of choosing to harvest or save the Little Sisters. These games pride themselves on being heavy on the story, drenched in moral choices and adult themes but your decisions towards the sisters have little effect on the game(s). This sir, needs to change. I want to be physically shook up when I decide to harvest a Little Sister. I want to wake up in the middle of the night, covered in a thick coat of sweat as I remember the nightmare caused by my deeds in the game. Not possible, you say? NAY, I proclaim (loudly, and with great confidence)! Let’s see how this can be done.

First off, choosing to harvest or save a Little Sister should have a much bigger effect on the story. So far it’s only meant I would either get ADAM now or later, after an arduous fight against multitudes of horny Splicers. Why are they horny, you ask? Try living in an underwater “utopia” for a few years and get back to me. If I don’t find you dry humping my futon I’ll say I was wrong in calling them horny, but you know what? They won’t even care, because they’re not real, you freak. Let’s move on.

First off, should I decide to kill that girl and rip out her spine and use it to floss my teeth so I can glean as much ADAM as I can from her lifeless corpse (the extraction scenes are censored, so this is my best guess as to how the ADAM is taken from the Little Sisters. Painfully, and preferably, slowly.) I want to feel bad, or, I want people with a conscience to feel bad for what they’ve done. Should I decide to be merciful, I want to feel good. BioShock almost made me feel good about adopting the Little Sisters, but when I discovered that the only way to get the ADAM was to protect her while she slllooooowwwlllly acquired the goods, I realized that I was being punished for not being an asshole. Why else would I be forced to go through all that for the same reward when I could’ve just gotten my hands a little dirty and had similar results. It was punishment.

I also feel we should just stop lying to ourselves and admit to what this ADAM really is. You inject it into yourself and start thinking you have superpowers? Hell, the Little Sisters drink the shit and we all got to step into the shoes of one of them. They’re roaming the eroded halls of an underwater city filled with all sorts of monsters talking about Angels and Mr. Bubbles, all while thinking they’re seeing beautiful walls of curtains and vivid colors. I think not. Resident Evil is still in denial as to what those ‘magical healing herbs’ are, but I live in Northern California so I know better.

So that, as they say, is that. Though if you were to ask me who said that, I would be unable to answer you. Instead I would simply stare at you, head cocked, eyes filled with wonder, with a look on my face that said, in no uncertain words: why would you ask me that, after all the beautiful ideas I just gifted upon you? Why not comment on them, telling me which ones you agree with, and which ones you don’t. Hell, you could even tell me what you think should be done in the third game, but please, don’t ask me where that phrase originated from, because I just don’t know.

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March 11th is the date, and in the upcoming weeks there will be an announcement for more multiplayer DLC in addition to single play extending downloadable content. Past the break for screens and DLC features. • Rank increase to level 50 with Rank Rewards
• New playable characters – Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca
• 20 new trials (Available after the rank of 40)
• A third weapon upgrade for each weapon
• Five additional masks (Available after the rank of 40)

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Over the next few months they plan on releasing a few packs for the multiplayer, and an expansion for the single player. Past the break for screens and info… • Rank Increase to level 50 with Rank Rewards
• New playable characters Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca
• 20 new trials*
• A third weapon upgrade for each weapon
• Five additional masks*
*Some items are only available after a player achieves a rank of 41 or higher.

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Head past the break to check out the interview! Adam: You’ve composed the soundtracks for several games, are you a gamer?

Garry: I guess that depends on how you define gamer. I don’t have a lot of time to play games (don’t watch much television either for that matter) but when I do I love to play. I am a BioShock fan and that would be true even if I hadn’t scored the games. Loved Portal and played World of Warcraft for a year. Even play Plants Versus Zombies when I need some stress release.

You know there was a French philosopher who lived in the late 19th Century that, though he was deeply depressed, decided not to commit suicide because he wanted to find out what would happen next in French politics of the time. I on the other hand just want to live a long life so I can see what happens next with video games. It is the most interesting and compelling entertainment going on right now and it has an almost infinite potential to do amazing things as the technology and creativity continue.

TJ: When you did the music for BioShock and Dante’s Inferno, how exactly did you insert the music into each section of the game? Were the games played level by level in front of you, and you had to insert the music
where necessary and as you saw fit?

Garry: I had nothing to do with placing the music into the game. That job is done by the audio director or audio professional who is hired to oversee and implement all sounds in the game including music, sound effects and dialogue. In essence I am contracted to provide an asset to the game (namely music) that is then rendered into the project. The audio director is usually the person I speak with from day to day and the one who gives me creative input into what specifically they need for the score in general and what each musical cue should do or how it should feel emotionally.

The games are not played in front of me generally (though that would be helpful) because they are usually not sufficiently far enough along to do that when I am hired to start. In addition I am working in my home studio and not on scene at the developer’s office. In fact we are generally in different cities. What they do send is gameplay movie captures (when they can) and scripts and screenshots, artwork etc. Really anything that can help give me a feel and sense of the game.

Adam: Between BioShock 1 and 2 the underwater city of Rapture has since fallen apart; is that reflected in the music?

Garry: I try to reflect that in the music though I am not certain that comes through entirely. Rapture in both games is pretty scary. But that said I think the scores are quite different mainly because BioShock 2 is a different game with different musical needs. There’s lot’s more combat music in BioShock 2 as well.

Adam: Did you assist in selecting any of the vintage music used in either of the BioShock games?

Garry: No – that was done by the Audio Director for each of the games.

TJ: Do you prefer composing video games, tv, or film?

Garry: There’s good, bad, and great things about all three mediums. In some ways video games is the best at this moment because they want strong music that is iconic and interesting and so much of TV and many films these days have very ambient and uninteresting music. The biggest budgets are reserved for the big studio films of course. And most composers aspire to get involved with them. But the pressures are enormous as is the competition to get those gigs.

I am very happy with what I am doing right now and feel it is permitting me the most fabulous creative opportunities of my career.

Adam: You’ve composed for a variety of mediums ranging from television to film to, of course, video games. How does your approach to composing for games differ from the others?

Garry: With games, other than when I am scoring cut scenes (which is nearly identical to scoring for film or TV) I am writing music that will become part of an interactive system. Thus you are not locked to a specific scene forever as in film music. The score needs to reflect the feel and action of a particular part or level of the game though it is not precisely locked to a specific scene or action, as each player will play at least slightly differently. Additionally, though this can vary dramatically from project to project the implementation of the score can be quite tricky and complex. The music may have to be created in layers to permit interactivity based on what a specific player is experiencing at any one time. So implementation issues (how and when the music plays in a game) are perhaps the biggest difference.

TJ: When creating the music for Dante’s Inferno, did you base the music for each circle of hell, off of the names themselves? And by that I mean did you say to yourself, “Ok, this is what Greed needs to sound like, and this is what Heresy needs to sound like, etc.”

Garry: Yes in a sense. Each level as Dante described them in his famous poem has a different purpose in the netherworld. Of course the developer’s visuals and descriptions of action and their intentions are critical in influencing how each level’s music should sound and how the score should differentiate itself on each level of hell. My favorite is Lust! Not for personal reasons, of course, but because I just love the music I wrote for that level. So I was really responding musically to the direction of the game – including how the gameplay unfolds and how of course the intense visual world they created based on Dante’s descriptions of hell.

Adam: What’s it like creating music for a game before it’s done then seeing your work incorporated into the world as a finished product?

Garry: It’s interesting writing music for a game and really having no good idea how your music will sound and feel in the finished product. I always play my games when they come out to see how it all feels and sounds. In the case of BioShock 2 I had a bit of an idea as my discussions with the audio director led me to believe the music implementation would be similar in the 2nd game to what it was in the first. That said I have been happily enjoying hearing my music in the game as I have been playing through BioShock 2.

TJ: Do any video game companies have you compose the game as it is being made? Or is it always a finished product before it touches your magic fingers?

Garry: I have always been hired to score the game while the game is being made. With films the score is one of the last things done, as you need a finished picture to score to. But with games you’re hired somewhere in the middle of the process and finish well before they are finished as the music has to be incorporated into the game along with all of the other audio as they go.

Adam: There are rumors that a BioShock film is underway; if that’s true do you have any interest in composing the music for the film?

Garry: As far as any movies are concerned – there has been much in the press about that potential for a BioShock film. Though the idea seems to ebb and flow. If there were to be a movie I would love to score it.

TJ: Seeing as we are mainly a horror movies site, we like to ask, what are some of your favorite horror movies?

Garry: Oh well – I have many but here’s a few: The Shining (Kubrick’s of course), Carrie, Rosemary’s Baby, The Thing (1951 version), Dracula (with Bela Lagosi of course), Jaws was pretty amazing. I could go on and on. But as you can see I tend to love the vintage ones the best!

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Or more importantly, our expectations? We’ve just returned from our dive back into the underwater utopia of Rapture and here’s what we found. The Good:

TJ: Most of my friends we’re very skeptical when BioShock 2 was announced. When they heard you would be a Big Daddy, or when the online multiplayer was announced. There was a fear it would take away from the campaign. Which has definitely happened in many other games. But I remained hopeful, and well I’m glad I did.

Adam: I don’t necessarily consider myself a pessimistic person, but I was one of those people. When a game like BioShock comes out, revolutionizes storytelling in gaming and blows our minds, the sequel has a lot to live up to. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don’t, and BioShock 2 is an example of the former. This game has a lot of the little things like the hidden stories of Rapture’s past you can glean from exploring the environments. This is a game that rewards you for being a curious soul, searching out every nook and cranny of this beautifully realized world.

TJ: This is so true. I spend countless extra hours in games like this staring at things, double checking file cabinets, shelves, in dark corners, under couches, just to make sure I don’t miss a thing. Like the exploration, I like that they kept a lot of my favorite things the same, like the the sounds. The sound you get when you pick up an item, or shooting guns and plasmids, or even the vending machines. They’re all familiar to me and make me feel at home when I jump back into a sequel. I love that they got most if not all of the same voice actors for the splicers and other characters. That really makes me happy.

Adam: I really liked the tapping of water against metal when you walk under a leak in a ceiling.

TJ: I thought that was a really cool effect. It’s little things like that that really make a game stand out you know?

Adam: Definitely. I didn’t think it was possible, but Rapture looks and sounds better than it did in the original. The music and sounds effects are always eerie and haunting, providing the perfect backdrop to a crumbling underwater utopia, but they can also occasionally leap into your face when you least expect it. And while we’re on the subject of great sounds, I loved traversing the sea floor because it reminded me of Dead Space (another game with exceptional sound design) when you get your first taste of the black void that is space. The muted sounds, slow, careful movement, and not knowing what’s around the corner. Walking across the sea floor in BioShock is very similar. That said, I wish my adventures outside of Rapture’s walls weren’t so linear. In this game they’re simply a vehicle to bring you from one area of the city to the next and I feel these sections could have been fleshed out a little better.

TJ: Though there never ended up being many items out there, I still searched as if my life depended on it and did end up going in circles a lot.

Adam: Early on I spent a healthy amount of time roaming the sea floor but as soon as they introduced those ADAM fish that you can pick up for extra ADAM I immediately began spending way too much time down there so I didn’t miss any of them.

TJ: Oh absolutely! Those things are so gross looking up close. On the subject of ADAM, I love the gathering sections, when you carry a Little Sister with you because you know what’s going to happen when you set her down. I also love how they made it a bit easier for you early on by giving you ways to prepare, like the Trap Rivets. You can set up trap rivets, mini turrets, trap spears, proxy mines, and hold tight in a corner and brace yourself for a fight.

Adam: They had a little of that type of strategy in the original, where you could hack machines and set up traps for enemies and the gathering perfects on it. Those mini turrets were by far the most useful addition, just throw four of those babies into a room and nothing will get within ten feet of your Little Sister. And just like the first game choosing to save or harvest your Little Sister once she’s done gathering makes a huge impact on the game’s story, in some surprising ways.

TJ: The story definitely grabs you from the beginning so you want to know exactly what the hell is going on all the way until the end.

Adam: Yeah, I didn’t want to put down the controller because of that urge to find out what’s happening and who’s going to be my new enemy; it’s a rush. And playing in a world that looks like it could implode in on itself at any moment is a rush in itself. Leaks on the walls, cracked windows, water coming out of drains on the floor; despite being one of the iconic Big Daddies you never quite feel safe.

TJ: And every time Big Daddy is walking by, the controller and the whole room is shaking, and you’re sure this is it. When the glass breaks and the walls cave in. I also thought the edition of the Big Sister was a welcome change to the game. I mean, fighting the Big Daddies now seems like nothing compared to the Big Sister. She is a maniac. I got my ass whooped a good ten times the first time I fought her. I wasn’t paying attention and she starting screaming in my face and kicked my ass. To top it off I was playing to get the achievement for not using Vita Chambers, so I had been saving non stop. So every time she destroyed me I had to go back to my last save and start the fight from scratch. This taught me a very important lesson. Test all of your plasmids and guns on everything. The first game I stuck with what I liked and what was familiar to me. But when you can freeze someone into an ice cube and rage them with the drill free of being attacked, it tends to help your situation.

Adam: I’ll admit the first time I fought a Big Sister she definitely made me her bitch, it was embarrassing. It doesn’t help when she tries to scare the crap out of you by screaming like a banshee, I almost wanted to keep my Little Sister on my shoulder just so I wouldn’t have to get my ass kicked (again). Mean Big Sisters aside, the game also improved on some things from the first game, like the slightly improved level design that masks the game’s obvious linearity by providing players with several routes through an area. The original did this successfully but it seems BioShock 2 has done it even better.

TJ: I especially liked the new tonic system where they are all together in one category rather than separating them like they did in BioShock 1. The new tonics are very cool, like standing in water to heal, and being able to fix a bot with Eve. The first game didn’t have a terribly diverse selection of enemies, so the addition of the Brute splicer, or “Mini Tank” from Left 4 Dead I thought was cool. I like him even more than his bigger brother in Left 4 Dead because he doesn’t come up with an imaginary piece of concrete in a swamp to throw at you.

Adam: I think you just ruined Left 4 Dead 2 for me.

TJ: TJ FTW?

The Not So Good:

TJ: There wasn’t much I didn’t like about this game. I loved the first and I felt really comfortable coming back to Rapture again. But maybe once you throw your dislikes at me you’ll change my mind a bit haha.

Adam: Alright, than I’ll make it my goal to point the game’s every blemish. My major issue is that a lot of it is scripted, making some of the areas predictable. There aren’t too many surprises. For example, when you find a gun or a substantial supply cache, that means you’re about to fight quite a few enemies. Granted, many games suffer from this level of predictability, but it expands beyond that even to the Big Sister encounters. Because they’re scripted, once you’ve played through the game you’ll know when and where the Big Sisters will strike.

TJ: Very true, though it also seems like no matter how prepared I am to fight a Big Sister, during the fight I feel way under prepared. Like she knows I have traps set so she completely dodges them.

Adam: The unfamiliarity and newness of Rapture is gone. This isn’t the game’s fault, it’s natural that after two games in very similar environments Rapture, while beautiful and haunting, would be getting stale. This is more of an issue for BioShock 3, should it see the light of day (and my guess is it will).

TJ: I guess that’s the thing about Rapture. Technically, given the scale size of the city, they could make plenty more games just roaming you around in different sections of the city. Which still leaves many places unexplored.

The Multiplayer:

Adam: Before the game’s release the multiplayer was without a doubt the biggest change for the series, and also one of my biggest worries. Would they really take the time to seamlessly weave it into the game’s world making it something both fun and new or would it be generic, an obvious add on that didn’t really mix with what BioShock is all about? I’ve spent a good deal of time with the game’s multiplayer and while I don’t feel that it deserves any accolades for innovation, it certainly wasn’t added in as an afterthought. A great amount of time, effort, and creativity went into making the online support something that was both fun and part of the game world. However, as are most first forays into new features, there are things that could’ve been done better.

TJ: When I first heard about the multiplayer I thought, well yeah it could work. But do I want it to? Do I need another online multiplayer game? I mean I have a handful with Halo 3, Firefight, Left 4 Dead 2, Gears Of War, and Horde mode (no I have not been sucked into Modern Warfare 2). After the Aliens Vs Predator multiplayer I’m thinking, “oh great this is pretty awesome and different, I’m going to want to play this a lot.” But BioShock? I didn’t see it coming and it hit me like a telekinesis launched rock. It’s awesome. The game is fast paced and plays like Halo, Modern Warfare, and Team Fortress 2 all mashed together into one spliced up baby.

Adam: Agreed, and while the character customization isn’t deep enough to make you feel particularly proud of the customized character you control, the ability to choose both your character, their melee weapon, and mask keeps the chances of running into an identical player very low.

TJ: I’m a total nerd for character customizing, hopefully they’ll release some kind of update that will allow you to do more. (Are you listening 2K? This is what we want in the next BioShock!)

Adam: The game modes will be familiar to anyone who’s played another shooter’s multiplayer, just with minor twists to make them fit in the game’s lore. For example, Capture the Sister is basically Capture the Flag where the flags have been replaced with sisters. Like any good multiplayer, there’s an experience system (experience being replaced by ADAM) that lets you unlock new plasmids, tonics, weapons, and weapon upgrades as you play. This worried me somewhat as many games have done this before making it unbalanced (how’s a level 2 character supposed to stand up against a level 30 who has unlocked everything?). Luckily, this doesn’t seem to matter as I, a level 3 character, whooped the ass of another character, level 28 and I’ve never been overly accused of being terribly good at multiplayer shooters (particularly those with ‘Modern Warfare’ in their title).

TJ: I always go into a multiplayer game going “Oh crap, that dude is a 30, I’m raped”. And a lot of time to my surprise I ended up doing better than him. Which is good. I feel like this multiplayer is a lot more balanced, even with the upgrades and perks. I love Capture the Sister. The thing that really turns it around is once you get the sister to a vent, it takes a little time to help her into it. Which you are completely vulnerable to get destroyed.

Adam: While most of it may seem uninspired, there are a handful of clever ideas the game can call its own like the randomly spawned Big Daddy suit that can turn even the worst of players into the baddest of badasses and hacking turrets so you can let it do all the work for you. The ability to take pictures of the fallen netting you a damage boost is also a welcome addition, as well as the only reason I managed to kill some of the more experienced players out there. There’s even a reward for exploring the levels, as you can find vials of ADAM lying around so if you’re getting your butt handed to you at least you can leave with some bonus experience.

In Closing:

TJ: This game pretty much rocked my world from start to finish. While I wouldn’t say it was perfect, I can definitely proudly put it up on a shelf with the original. And as of right now the multiplayer is something I can really get into, especially playing with a bunch of friends. I give the game 4.5 out of 5 Skulls.

Adam: Yeah, what he said. 4.5/5 barnacle encrusted skulls.

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But that’s not all, oh no it isn’t, you may have seen some Gears of War in your Lost Planet 2? Well, now there’s also a little bit of Resident Evil in there to make that game even better. As Alan Wake nears its May release date we’ve been given some more details on the game including a very cool new trailer. So read on you handsome, intelligent reader you so you can get your monthly dose of all things horror. BioShock 2 Doesn’t Mind If You Call It Big Daddy.

Without a doubt one of the most anticipated games of the year (and that’s really saying something with all the big titles on the way) is out now. When you played the original did you say to yourself, “If only this game had a multiplayer I’d do dirty, and possibly illegal, things to it all night long”, because if you did (and I completely agree you saucy minx) it’s very likely BioShock 2 is the game of your dreams. It’s out now for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Dante’s Inferno Has DEMON BOOBS; Need I Say More?

You know what else is out? Dante’s Inferno, that’s what. If you decided, while playing any of the God of War games, that there just wasn’t enough T & A in the games than Dante’s Inferno is here to soothe your boobular needs with boobage aplenty. It’s also worth noting that, while the game has no multiplayer support now, over the coming months all that will change with the two upcoming DLC packs entitled ‘Dark Forest’ and ‘Trials of St. Lucia’, the latter of which adds some much needed online features to the game. St. Lucia, due out April 29th, includes cooperative play, a new playable character (St. Lucia) and a game-editor that lets you make your own hellish levels.

BOTH Left 4 Dead Games Getting DLC

Revealed Thursday at Microsoft’s X10 event, Valve showed off some details for the upcoming ‘The Passing’ DLC for Left 4 Dead 2.  In it the cast from both games meet up, and in one of the chapters the cast from the original game lend a hand to help our new heroes make it through the hordes of undead. 

Included in the DLC is a new machine gun, a new common zombie, and the new Fallen Survivor infected.  The Passing will be making its way to the Xbox 360 and PC late next month.

But that’s not all as Valve will be explaining how the cast from L4D came to The Passing in more DLC for the original Left 4 Dead.  Don’t expect this to be compatible with L4D2 though, because it won’t.  All we know about it is the DLC will fill in all the holes when it gets released sometime after The Passing.

I should also mention that Left 4 Dead 2 was recently patched to take care of that horrible auto-spawn problem during the finales and it also added Infected Bots to help aid the Infected team when they’re a few players short.

What Would Get You To Pay More Money for Dead Space 2?

I’m a bit late with this bit of news but EA is looking for your assistance in choosing what to include in a possible Collector’s Edition of Dead Space 2. This is your chance to get what you want. What do you want in your imaginary Dead Space 2 Collector’s Edition? A posable Cher figurine, perhaps? Maybe some collectable stamps featuring the late Albert Einstein? An ‘I’m With Coco!’ Banner? Speak up people!

Check it out HERE!

WTF? Darkest of Days is Being Adapted into a Movie?

In a good example of news coming out of left field, critical failure Darkest of Days will be getting adapted into a film. Before you ask, no, this is not the work of Uwe Boll. We can thank Douglas Cook and David Weisberg, the guys behind The Rock (the film, not the wrestler) for this gem of news.

Right now a screenplay is being written to try and capitalize on… well, I really don’t know since I honestly can’t see, no matter how hard I try, any reason to adapt this game into a movie. No interesting characters and a bizarre plot pretty much wraps up everything that game brought to the table. Maybe these guys see something I don’t?

On a positive note should this film get the green light at least there won’t have to worry about pissing off any hardcore fans because I’m fairly positive this game has few to anger.

Wesker Kicks Buggy Alien Bums Alongside Marcus & Dom in Lost Planet 2

At this point Capcom seems to be simply tossing random characters into their upcoming game Lost Planet 2 to widen its appeal (something they really didn’t need to do when the game already had fireball throwing dragon and electric-limbed squid bosses). First it was the appearance of Albert Wesker from Resident Evil 5, and now its Marcus and Dom from Gears of War. But this is old news, right? Shut up, no one likes you for pointing out the obvious. Anyways, here are some nerdgasm inducing screenshots of the trio fighting together.

Demon’s Souls Celebrates Valentines Day the Only Way it Knows How

By switching up the world’s tendency, of course. As of right now the world tendency is white, meaning the game is somewhat forgiving, or at least as forgiving that a game like Demon’s Souls can be, until Thursday, when it all goes black. So if you’ve been trying to mess with your world’s tendency so you can get that rare item hidden a certain level now’s the time to get it (I suggest heading over to the first stage in the Boletarian Palace, there’s a healthy selection of goods waiting at the beginning of the level).

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“One of the most exciting aspects of the original BioShock was how our fans responded with adoration for the game, from creating homemade Big Daddy suits to their own BioShock-inspired art and videos,” said Christoph Hartmann, president, 2K. “We felt it was only fitting to reach out to those passionate fans with nationwide Return to Rapture midnight openings where they can pick up their copy of BioShock 2 as early as possible.” The game is out officially tomorrow on the PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360.

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What’s interesting is the gameplay as a Big Daddy, which hopefully is a little less frustrating than playing in the first game where you walk all heavy, slow and have limited viewing space (although that looks to be changed a bit).

BioShock 2 is a first-person shooter video game, developed by 2K Marin as the sequel to the critically-acclaimed BioShock. It is due for release on October 30, 2009 internationally and on November 3, 2009 in North America simultaneously on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows platforms.

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