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Spawn Kill Favorites: Bioshock

This February promises the highly-anticipated sequel to the action-adventure RPG with a dash of horror, Bioshock. But what was so great about the first game’s underwater dystopia, you ask? Hop on over to Spawn Kill and check out my review, which went live yesterday (hooray!).

Few video games arouse genuine nirvana in players, but even less promise a blossoming underwater world only to swallow gamers whole and leave them wanting more wretched decay, both lovely and sanguine. BioShock is one such praised gem, and experiencing the game without feeling like the developers literally poured their souls into its creation is virtually impossible. Indeed, BioShock at its very core flourishes as a polished experience, and quite a mighty one at that.

Tags: 2K Games, BioShock, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Spawn Kill, Week of 1/11/10, Xbox 360
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Pilot: Mass Effect: Redemption

Mass Effect aficionados might want to snag a copy of this month’s Mass Effect: Redemption #1 (out now), which preludes the new Mass Effect 2 video game. Yesterday’s Impulse Creations article determines whether it passes the quality test as a comic, but chances are you’ll want to purchase the issue regardless if you’re a fan.

Welcome to another installment of Pilot! As comic book readers ourselves, we at Impulse know how important it is to get a quality bang for money spent on a single issue. Comic prices add up, after all! So every so often we’ll take an in-depth look at a new title or mini-series. We’ll give you the heads up on whether it’s is worth getting into or passing up. If it’s good, then you’ll know. If it’s not so good … well, we read it so you don’t have to.

Another video game series enters the comic book world this month with Mass Effect: Redemption #1 (of 4), penned by the lead writer of the upcoming Mass Effect 2, Mac Walters. Published by Dark Horse, the mini-series agrees to test its weight against the demands of an audience who favors a printed, visual medium. The transition between mediums—and in this case, from the screen to the page—usually requires a certain toll, and many times the cost proves high. Either the nature of the source gives way to convolution or the end product doesn’t try to function as a new work. I might not be a Mass Effect familiar, but the comic feeds more than just the interests of the original fans: By stepping foot into comic book waters, readers with little or zero Mass Effect education are going to flip through the pages. In fact, the point of the transfer lies with reaching new audiences and inviting them to dip into the video game experience, as well.

Tags: Dark Horse, Impulse Creations, Mass Effect, Pilot, Redemption, Week of 1/11/10
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Silent Hill: A Decade of Nightmares

I’ve been meaning to catalog the full Silent Hill history for awhile, but now couldn’t be a more perfect time. Unless I’m screwing up the math (which is possible, trust me), then January 2010 marks the full ten-year anniversary of the survival horror series. What better way to celebrate than to take a look back on the years with all their missteps and achievements? … Okay, well, I guess we could all dress up as the crazy gang of monsters and characters and put on a performance enacting famous scenes from the video games in a thematic party, but maybe that’s a little much. Eh, there would be punch, though.

Who’s your favorite Silent Hill individual?

For the last ten years since its 1999 debut, the Silent Hill video games have launched gamers into the heart of a macabre town crawling with unearthly creatures, cult secrets, and enough horrid psychological chicanery to justify a happily executed lobotomy. Despite the series’ notable footprint on the surface of the survival horror expanse, each installment bears its respective weight in flaws as terrifying as its disgusting creatures and unsettling music. So what makes Silent Hill unique and massively popular among horror addicts? Here’s a rundown of the Silent Hill landmarks that established the series and an envisioning of what fans can expect in the years to come. Feel free to add your own tribute in the comments below!

Tags: Climax Group, Double Helix Games, Konami, Microsoft Xbox, OneMetal, PC, PlayStation, PSP, Silent Hill, Team Silent, Week of 1/11/10
Posted in Features, Gaming, OneMetal, Writing | No Comments »

Review: Lola: A Ghost Story

Adding to the wave created by the latest H.P. Lovecraft-themed story, another young reader-friendly graphic novel hits the shelves tomorrow. Lola: A Ghost Story isn’t a ghost story per say, but rather a comforting invitation into the otherwise threatening world of life and death. The comic stumbles a few times, but it’s worth a look—and it makes a great gift for those struggling with loss.

Few people experience true encounters with the strange stuff of myths, but Lola endured her supernatural gift of recognizing demons and otherworldly signs from birth to the grave. When a boy named Jesse and his family travel to his parents’ home in the Philippine countryside to attend his grandmother Lola’s funeral, time around the farmhouse—haunted with anecdotes from the woman’s surreal life—reveals that there’s more than one extraordinary gift in the family. Paranormal exposure riddles Jesse’s everyday youth. From chats with his late cousin to hearing monsters scurrying about the woods and spying rotting corpses littering public locations, his days are filled with the unsettling.

Tags: A Ghost Story, Elbert Or, J. Torres, Lola, OneMetal, Oni Press, Week of 1/11/10
Posted in Comics, OneMetal, Writing | 1 Comment »