This is so embarrassing. I have been reduced to a complete spaz screaming for help in my living room while playing an Xbox game. The unexpected "I'm in the Alley!! Hurry up! Now!!" panic which I found myself in a few nights ago, completely shocked and impressed me to the point that I thought
Left4Dead earned a spot in my vampy and campy files.
Now, I'm a lousy video game-er, despite my enthusiasm. I'm just too impatient, especially for the realistic elements of L4D's gameplay, such as the necessity to carry a flashlight and not a million guns, or that it takes time to stand still and heal your teammates, and that if you are captured by the zombies with the lasso-tongue, you are trapped ... screaming in an alley... until one of your brave teammates can come rescue you. I was repeatedly scolded for being way too "Leroy Jenkins" to play in survival mode, because I'm way too impatient to crouch and wait to see if the horde is outside the next doorway. Let me just throw a grenade and blast on through, right? My attitude is let 'em try and catch me.
The look of the game is really creepy, since it's very dark which necessitates carrying a flashlight which only lights up a narrow circle cirectly in front of you. This forces you to be cautious and paranoid about what lies beyond that small ray of light. As if you couldn't tell by the distant sounds of groans and flesh-chomping just out of camera view -- and by god, don't let one of the fat ones spew on you, because that brings in the hordes and fast! Those bastards can run, sneak up on you, you name it. These aren't Romero's stumbling grave-tenants.
Looks like Left4Dead 2 is out now, and I'm gonna recommend to the roomie that he should pick it up as soon as I can retrieve my self-respect from under the couch. But really, go ahead and play with the light off. I dare ya.
"If you're suffering from Twilight Fatigue Syndrome (TFS), this gritty, unromantic tale will be a welcome break."
I09
Looks like the Vampire mythology is going through a bit of a Post-Twilight sea-change... and I say, Bring it on. One of my favorite things about the vampire ouevre is how flexible the mythology is.
Daybreakers opens this weekend with Ethan Hawke at the center of a clever take on an apocalypse movie for the 'immortals' once the human blood supply begins to run dry. Begging the question, what's worse, to live forever as a de-volved creature of the night, or to be a mere mortal? In that respect, I'd say the vampires would suffer a tad more that the average joe.
I09 has a
great review, which I encourage you to read rather than summarizing it here. The world as described sounds totally original as a complete contemporary role-reversal with vampires in the majority and humans reduced to the role of cattle in a factory farm. Plus, it just looks so visually striking, with the glowing labs, blackout car windows, and golden vampire eyes. (I included the trailer below - feast your eyes on those corneas.)
I had a momentary thought about the similarity/extrapolation from Charlaine Harris' type contemporary supernatural world, you know, like "what if Eric, the Queen, et al completely took over and ravaged the planet in a Terminator-type of future" story? However, I feel that Charlaine wouldn't condone all the overconsumption as it goes against her message of tolerance. But, I digress...
Sadly, I dont' think I'm gonna be able to go out and see it this weekend, but it's definetely on my list. I think this has a bit of cult-movie potential as a contemporary vampire-themed allegory paralleling oil and corporate greed. I'm intrigued, especially with Hawke and Dafoe standing behind it. It has all the elements of a '00 Vamp thriller: a virtuous emo vamp played by Ethan Hawke (after sunset, eh), a big-bad parable for the current global crisis, and battle-hungry vigilantes with crossbows. Who could resist?
