Evil Review: F.E.A.R. 3: A late review

fear3

 

I know I am 3 years late on doing this but I finally finished the F.E.A.R. series and would love to give my opinion on the 3rd installment. What can I say about F.E.A.R. that has already been said? Well its one hell of a unique game series, very interesting story and gameplay mechanics. Its one of the only games that does a good job balancing action and horror. I fell in love with the first two games the first one being my favorite, but I never got a chance to play the third game until recently.

F.E.A.R. 3 takes place directly after the 2nd game and you reprise the role of point man again (main character of fear 1). I’m very happy you play as point man again in the 3rd game, he is just too badass. There is also a 2nd protagonist you play as for co-op mode but to avoid spoilers I won’t talk much about him. Gameplay has changed since the first two games; they removed the badass cover system that you could perform in F.E.A.R. 2 like for example you could run up to a table and flip it over and use it as cover. They removed this feature in F.E.A.R. 3 which was a bummer, but added a different cover system which all you do is hide behind an object and quickly swap between different obstacles which is pretty cool. You no longer have to use medkits, you can now regenerate health which takes away some difficulty. Gameplay is more fast paced unlike others, there is little to no silent, walking segments like we’ve seen in the first two games. Each part of every level is full of fast pace action and it gets very repetitive.

The mystery of the story is no longer there. Everything about the campaign seemed too predictable, and not much of a mystery or being left in the dark like the first F.e.a.r. game did. Each interval got more annoying then the last, it felt like the game was forcing you to play co-op because if you didn’t then you are going to have a frustrating time with the intervals. They felt more like endurance test than levels. The co-op in the game isn’t too bad, it’s quite fun actually and even has some competitive aspect to it which is very unique. Both players can effect the outcome of the game by competing against each other in getting the highest score, by the end of the game both players scores will be calculated and the game will choose the best player and go with their ending.

F.E.A.R. is one of my favorite action/horror games and I hope they will continue the series in the future. With F.E.A.R. Online coming out soon on Steam I  felt it was time for me to finish the main series and give my opinion on the final game. F.E.A.R. 3 is no where close to being as good as the first two F.e.a.r. games. It focuses way too much on action and it is too face pace, if anyone wants to try the F.E.A.R. games then please start with the first one. It has an amazing atmosphere, fun gameplay, and good story. My personal rating of F.E.A.R. 3 will have to be a 6/10 its a fun game but as for a true F.E.A.R. game compared the others,  it didn’t meet the expectations.

Quick Pic: No Sting in Your Rear!

Scorpion Chair!

scorpionchair

Legacy of Evil! “Legacy of Thorn” review!

What truly makes an ultimate killer and when I say “ultimate” I mean a killer with great power and will stop at nothing to get a prey? Jason Voorhees is an ultimate killer as he’s able to resurrect over and over and over again in order to slaughter mischievous camp goers. Michael Myers is an ultimate killer as he’s able to pick a victim up by the victim’s head and gouge his eyes while crushing his skull at the same time. Both Voorhees and Myers contain a certain kind of ruthful, limitless evil that makes Ted Bundy and Ed Gacy seem like cut and cuddly kittens. These ultimate killers are the very definition of the moniker. We can now add one more name to that list: Thorn.

Jess and three other survivors look to save their town and see revenge after a night of hell four years ago, February 29th – leap year. Every leap year, Thorn, a vicious, supernatural, and unstoppable killer, roams the town of Avondale to reek chaos and death until he locates his sacrifice. Four years later, Jess and her friends are able to capture Thorn and when their decision to kill Thorn backfires, another night of hell ensues and this time nothing will stop Thorn from taking what Thorn seeks.
Screen shot 2014-10-08 at 5.27.02 PM
The character that is Thorn is a mixture of Jason Voorhees and the DC Universe and Batman villain Bane in a sense that while Thorn has an immense amount of strength and rejuvenation, Thorn is dependent. Bane relies on Venom to induce superhuman strength. The same goes for Thorn but with his mask giving Thorn also superhuman strength and while Voorhees has his machete, Thorn has two machetes for double the decapitations but he wasn’t limited to just his machetes as crushed multiple skulls with his bare hand and tore a woman half also with his bare hands – best scene ever. This will be Richard Daniel Thomas Holloran (whew) second time playing the Thorn character and he has the slow stalking walk down and the menacing posture that resembles the posture of the iconic horror legend Kane Hodder!
Screen shot 2014-10-08 at 5.35.44 PM
Director-writer MJ Dixon captures the essence of an ultimate killer combining brutal deaths and a silent hatred while giving Thorn his own murderous theme soundtrack that is a necessity amongst all ultimate killers. Dixon’s editing techniques are top-notch and can rival many of today’s A-list directors; he has talented eye for editing and from “Legacy of Thorn” and “Slasher House” (a semi-sequel to “Legacy of Thorn” – read my review here), I’d trust the director with my low-budget screenplay and precious backing money. I’m certainly thought fond of the linear progression of current time and the reverse chronological order of four years ago when the group of friends were attacked. This editing choice resulted in more dramatic character developed. I actually give a shit about these people who are being hunted. The writing could use a bit of work especially in the first act as the pace slowly builds. There was also a scene where the hero characters – Jess (Jade Wallis), Eric (Paris Rivers), Alice (Jane Haslehurst), and Clark (Craig Canning) – kept debating why they should or should not kill Thorn. Another little annoyance was the blue tint. Much like in Slasher House with the yellowish green tint, Dixon’s heavy hand on blue tint made the film nearly too dark; however, the Duke blue tint did bring an ominous feel. The special effects involved with Thorn’s kills were subtle and the use of slight of hand came off a bit obvious, but overall the deaths were well executed, if I may use that pun.
Screen shot 2014-10-08 at 5.33.38 PM
Thorn will never die like the ultimate killer he is and will need more stories in the future. His Legacy will live on and I hope to see him again in another rampage involving another group of shaken and distressed teens. There definitely needs to be more background on the character as we don’t know much about Thorn but the facts that returns to Avondale on every leap year and the majority of the town has conspired to keep Thorn pleased with their assistance. Lets establish more of that and make it more coherent in Legacy of Thorn: Chapter 3! “Legacy of Thorn” is now available for DVD pre-order in the UK and the US from MyCho Entertainment Group and Red:Fuse Releasing and looking to hit retail shelves on Tuesday October 27th – just in time for Halloween.

2014 Halloween Commercial: Skittles – ‘Skittlesweb’

One of my favorite Halloween commercials so far is by Skittles and their #skittlesweb commercial. Giant spiders are always creepy, but in this extended commercial (i’ve only seen the short version on TV) it’s quite funny and creepy at the same time.

2014 Halloween Commercial: Totino’s Pizza Rolls – ‘So Fast, It’s Scary!’

Here’s a commercial that harks back on the classic black and white scares. Totino’s Pizza Rolls Halloween commercial is more kid friendly, but still iconic and homaging.