Saturday, September 24, 2016

Top 5 Reasons Why There's More Remakes than Original Horror Movies

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, today I want to be direct for an chance. Who doesn't like Hollywood constantly crapping on older horror movies. By making newer versions of them good because I don't either. I was able to combine most of my reasons down to just my top 5 reasons for why there's more remakes than original horror movies. Yes this is going to upset some people for many reasons. I am making this for those who felt the same way about majority of those remakes.

5. Sometimes more copies can be release & sold faster being straight to DVD
Some directors are desperate enough to rush production of their movies. In fact they skip the whole getting their movies in movie theaters to go straight into your houses. This allows them to produce more copies from the start as most movies later down the road gets more copies including different versions. Another advantage of this strategy is directors get more of the total amount of money paid for their movies.

4. A limit for how violent & disturbing movies can be
Since the beginning horror movies were meant to scare you. Some directors took on disturbing concepts. Some took on using creatures you regularly wouldn't use in an horror movie. Some are forced during the editing of their movies to tone it down. In some cases causes movies like new Halloween 2 to get an entirely new story. As time went down the gore went up with more possibilities. Unfortunately this greatly affect remakes more because they're the modern version of classic movies. Thus they had to keep it tone down & keeping some key elements from the original. Otherwise either their movies becomes an different one or gets canceled.

3. An alternate version of classic horror movies
As stated before the main reason remakes of horror movies exist to allow you to experience them. Some classic horror movies are quite difficult to find by today's standards. In some cases you could be getting two completely difference experiences. Simply watching both the original & remake of several movies. Some remakes are meant to allow you to watch some of those movies.

2. Not much room for creativity

All kind of horror movies has been made through out the years. A great number of classic horror movies are in the public domain. Even some shows like Supernatural has literately everything present. All of this greatly limits on what some movie companies can do. The obvious answer is go in remake an horror movie or several of them direction. They also do this to possibly avoid lawsuits.

1. Cash In

Everyone knew this was the number 1 reason behind those movies. Some companies love crapping on sequels. Can you believe them crapping on classic horror movies with newer versions is worse? Not only they're modernizing it, they're changing much more. Most remakes are very different from their original movies. Hell War of the Worlds to my surprise got three remakes in the same year by three different companies. Most of the time plots changed, how the story plays out is different & too much of forced scares. Plus this makes getting their movies out a lot easier in the long run. What's worse is some companies with little to no permission from another company can make sequels to movies. Some sequels are actually remakes in disguised like Fright Night 2 newer version. Regardless most horror movies even some bad ones are doomed to getting remade. In doing so loses a lot of potential most of their original movies had. The rate horror movie remakes can come out is surprisingly quick on an good year. In an bad one I would say about two handful of those movies. Hollywood knows horror movies has an huge demand. They will constantly keep them coming no matter what.

Until next time I'm Jack Red and I'll see all of you later.

My Thoughts on Cinemassacre's Monster Madness (2007-2016)

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, it's hard to believe in a week from today will be the final Monster Madness marathon. James Rolfe widely known for shows like AVGN, Board James and You Know What's Bullshit is creating something truly unique. Something the definitive true spirit of Halloween. This may surprise people but he confirmed not too long ago. He puts more work into these videos than The Angry Video Game Nerd episodes. From 2007 to 2016 is ten years of his way getting people into the spirit of Halloween as well as horror movies in general. Some of these videos are creative for their time. I doubt there ever will be an horror marathon worth waiting for or unique as Cinemassacre's Monster Madness.

2007 (History of Horror) 31 reviews

His original major Monster Madness marathon back in 2007. James clearly has an eye to detail for lining these move up. He starts with the oldest working his way to the most recent among them. All for the history of horror movies is surprisingly interesting over the years. Just how much those movies changed from the beginning to present is mind blowing. He does an amazing job with each short review going straight to the point.

2008 (Godzillathon) 30 reviews with best of video
For me one of my least favorite among all Monster Madness marathons. No it's not because they aren't technically horror movies. Anything especially comedies with traits of horror movies count in my book. I am not too into those movies but James really knows his stuff. Each review in this series kept getting more interesting. I like how he went about the best of video which was my favorite in this marathon.Who knew Godzilla had so many movies through out the years right. Clearly James really wanted more people to be into them. I respect he went it without caring for an slight chance people would hate it. Reviewing all of these movies isn't easy to do. For the record I am an Otaku so I do like similar stuff to this.

2009 (Monster Madness 3) 31 reviews

Officially doesn't have an real theme but still a great marathon. He reviewed some of my favorite horror movies. I will post a list of those movies below for those wondering which ones...

1. Child's Play
2. Leprechaun
3. Hellraiser
4. Creepshow
5. The Devil's Rejects

James decided to start from the oldest to the most recent. Which was done very well considering his choices of this marathon. Honestly this is kinda in the middle of the pack within all the years he done. Nothing major turned me off about it. I do like he did play it by ear to gave us some great reviews. I would say go check this marathon out for sure. Especially if you have nothing to do I promise it's worth every minute of your time.

2010 (Camp Cult) over 30 reviews and best of video

Officially he decided to do okay to horrible movies that some people can't get enough of. Yes there are groups that would pay to see very bad movies like Troll 2 & still have a great time. Once again he reviewed a couple of movies I like that I could recommend to some people. If you want to check out the list just look below...

1. Ernest Scared Stupid
2. Critters
3. Fright Night

Honestly most of these could freak you out or getting you laughing hard. I think some people would have trouble not constantly rewatching these. I am glad James decided to take on those labeled movies. Usually most would say little about them or go too far with some. James went right in knowing he was going to cover some of the weirdest movies anyone has ever seen. Most of these movies are laughable even back then. For some reason when you don't have anything to do just bored out of your mind. There is something about those kind of movies that gets you going again. Maybe that was the entire point of Rolfe doing this theme Monster Madness.

2011 (Sequel-A-Thon) over 30 reviews

One of my absolute favorite Monster Madness marathons. Sequel-A-Thon was doomed to happen. Horror movies has some of the most follow up movies in history of cinema. Of course James had an great list of franchises to cover in the month of October. He covers Universal Frankenstein, Hammer Dracula, A Nightmare on Elm Street & Halloween series all within one month. Some of his finest reviews to date are present in this Monster Madness. James does an incredible job reviewing every movie in all four these horror movie series. I love he also made short trailers for all of them. Which shows parts of each video within that series. From the first video to the last I had difficulty showing myself from watching them nonstop. Honestly that's how damn good those videos are to me.

1. A Nightmare on Elm Street series
2. Halloween series

2012 (80s-A-Thon) 16 reviews

The shortest Monster Madness to date of sixteen videos. This year covers only movies released back in the 80s. Believe it or not some believe the 80s are the golden years of horror movies. Although it  wasn't, there was a lot of good & bad horror movies released in those years. Just like Monster Madness 3, this is also in the middle of the pack. Personally I do like some of these movies he reviewed.

1. Twilight Zone The Movie
2. Toxic Avenger
3. Teen Wolf
4. Pumpkinhead
5. Puppetmaster
6. Killer Klowns from Outer Space

I think some people will have trouble getting this marathon. It still interesting how movies like those existed in the 80s. Kinda like Camp Cult it does have a similar affect on people. Maybe not as strong but still more noticeable.

2013 (Sequal-A-Thon 2) over 30 reviews and commentary on Night of the Living Dead movie

I was very excited to hear James doing another Sequel-A-Thon theme Monster Madness. I already was an huge fan of his first Sequel-A-Thon. WOW could it be he actually out did the original Sequel-A-Thon. Yes he did by doing five horror movie franchises in one month. Yes Alien, Gamera, Hammer Frankenstein, Universal Mummy and George A. Romero's Zombie Movies all done in one month. He does an extra mile by doing an full movie commentary on Night of the Living Dead. All of the videos are very well done. Some of his finest being really constant from the start. All of them together could be one great long movie. James really put a lot of work into this Monster Madness. It's no secret I'm an huge fan of this Monster Madness marathon. Truly one of his finest among all of them by far. Of course I should bring up the infamous belief that horror movie sequels are terrible. Not true which some of these movies debunks that belief right out the door.

2014 (Monster Madness 8) 31 reviews

There isn't an theme for this Monster Madness but still one of the best line up of horror movies to date. All of them in an weird way made perfect sense to do for the month of October. It all came together beautifully as if it actually was the true spirit of Halloween. One of the best among Monster Madness marathons. Honestly it is in all honesty that good. Monster Madness 8 is one of the best things with 8 in the title. James did an amazing job reviewing all of these at his best.

1. Bram Stoker's Dracula
2. Beetlejuice
3. Bride of Chucky
4. IT
5. Are You Afraid of the Dark TV Show

2015 (Monster Madness 9) almost 30 reviews with a few extra Halloween themed videos

Partly good & mixed for the most part. All the scripted videos are done very well. I felt some of the unscripted videos are a little all over the place. I understand why they chose to do some of them that way. James had a lot on him that year & barely was able to give us all of these videos. I still have to point it out because some videos could've been better a little better. Simply being a little more to the point or at least more on topic. These videos came out more as extra videos than actual videos for this marathon. I'm not saying I hate Monster Madness 9 hell no I like it a lot. It's difficult for me to put it high on my list.

1. Misery
2. Poultrygeist
3. Silence of the Lambs
4. Shaun of the Dead
5. Saw
6. Carrie
7. Treehouse of Horror episodes in TV Specials video

Oh we're not done yet because I am going to rank all of them from the worst to the best. I'm positive people will have different lists on topics like this. Please don't cry like babies, just listen to what I have to say. If possible please give me some respect otherwise go somewhere else. To be honest this is going to be difficult to do. James really puts a lot of work into each Monster Madness marathon. Thus trying to pick my absolute favorite out of them. Literately like an needle in an haystack but I gotta try.

9. Camp Cult
8. Monster Madness 3
7. 80s-A-Thon
6. Godzillathon
5. History of Horror
4. Monster Madness 9
3. Monster Madness 8
2. Sequel-A-Thon
1. Sequel-A-Thon 2

My thoughts on Monster Madness X in full detail not holding back...
I really like the trailer for the last major Monster Madness marathon. It speaks volumes of how awesome this year Monster Madness is going to be. Obviously I got a lot of thoughts on each day themes.

Modern Mondays are James reviewing newer horror movies good or bad. It is likely some newer horror movie remakes could appear. Personally I'm hoping he reviews Fright Night remake with Colin Farrell. I also don't care for the current direction of horror movies is heading sue me I have my reasons.

Top Ten Tuesdays is easily one of my favorites. I really enjoy his Top 10 videos especially his personal favorite Tales from the Crypt episodes. I already know these are really worth waiting for. James is an creative guy especially when it comes to making horror related stuff. Of course I have a few ideas of what he could be doing videos this October.

1. Top 10 Kills in Horror Movies
2. Top 10 Monsters in Horror Movies
3. Top 10 Survivors in Horror Movies
4. Top 10 Worst Horror Movies I Can't Stop Watching
5. Top 10 Horror Movies of All Time
6. Top 10 Horror Movie Franchises
7. Top 10 Unexpected Horror Movie Moments
8. Top 10 Horror Movie Weapons
9. Top 10 Strangest Horror Movies
10. Top 10 Complex Horror Movies
11. Top 10 Movies That Could Be Horror Movies
12. Top 10 Mass Murder Scenes
13. Top 10 Most Fuck Up Ways of Killing People in Horror Movies
14. Top 10 Horror Movie Beliefs

WTF Wednesdays is going to be very entertaining. As many of you know both James & Mike seen some mess up movies over the years. I already know they chosen some really mess up movies. Movies that makes you even wonder how the hell did it ever get released in the first place. Those will help up some much needed humor from when his reviews starts getting boring to some people. There are surprisingly a lot of those horror movies out there. It could take forever for anyone to cover them all in one or several long videos. I give respects to James throwing himself in what could be another Camp Cult session. I bet he already kissed his wife & put his daughter to sleep before going into madness. Such as known only as WTF Wednesdays. You thought being inside an black hole or the Twilight Zone is bad. I dare anyone to explore the realm of WTF horror movies & come back.

Blood-Thirsty Thursdays has a lot of potential to being one of his best categories. There are so many good & bad vampire movies. In fact it's possible he could do an special vampire video talking a lot about them. Regardless the very concept of those vampires has been said to go all the way back to the dinosaurs were still alive. Vampires have gone through several major changes over the years. One possible angle James could do or  review an vampire movie series. Another possibilities is which are vampires video now that would be fun to watch. Vampires has such an strong reception among so many people. James already knows he has bring his A game to live up to it's legacy. I believe he will do just that for all of us.

Franken-Fridays is all centered around one of my favorite classic horror movie monsters. Frankenstein's monster has been in so many shows, movies and games it's ridiculous. Just like Blood-Thirsty Thursdays, this too has a lot of potential of being one of his best categories. There is so many movies with this creature that most doesn't know. All helps in James getting you interested in possibly checking it out yourselves. A very neutral character since sometimes he's good while others he's bad. Which by itself makes many people more interested in those Friday videos. Honestly I hope he picks stuff to help get me more into the creature. I wondered if he would review I, Frankenstein or Alvinn and the Chipmunks meets Frankenstein. I am looking forward to see what we're getting on those Fridays myself.

Weekend Whatevers is basically no theme anything goes. James already proven in a few major Monster Madness marathons with no themes. He still makes great videos getting us more into his work, Halloween and true spirit of the Holiday in general. I am expecting my expectations low because you really don't know what he would do. There's so many possibilities I could do another big blog on it. I am looking forward to it like many people.

Honestly this has the makings of an great finale to such an rememberable Halloween marathons. So many are entertained by these videos during all those Octobers before. James really loves Halloween with an passion I doubt anyone alive or dead could rival. This marathon has the potential of being one of his greatest achievements in life.

Until next time I'm Jack Red and I'll see all of you later.
PS. I do plan up covering Monster Madness X and updating my list officially becoming an Top 10 list. Don't worry I will work hard, paying attention to all of these videos for fellow fans. Also I would gravely be proud if anyone could contact anyone from Cinemassacre about my blog. You have my thanks in advance and I hope everyone has an great Halloween.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Top 5 Reasons Why Steam Machine is Losing Against All Major Consoles

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, I remember a few years ago wanting an Steam Machine. After seeing many great videos on why not to get one. It really got me thinking about how desperate some game companies are getting recently. Steam Machine should be doing better against Xbox One, PS4 and Wii U. Sadly it's getting killed on both console & PC markets like no tomorrow. In fact I decided to pick my personal top 5 reasons why Steam Machine is losing against all major consoles in one blog.

5. Horrible controllers

I think even loyal Steam fans would agree. Steam controllers are terrible in almost every sense of the word. Why is both d-pad and similar thing in place of thumb sticks so awkward? Let me explain instead of having buttons close by or at least give you an small thumb stick. Steam controllers has two large flat things that doesn't work well at all. Yes this does have it's own thumb stick but it only confusing people further on how to play your games. Some complaint after playing with it a few minutes, they want to play another console. I bet some of you are wondering why right? It is simple Steam controllers kinda felt like Xbox Fat controllers to some that does turn people off. If it doesn't feel good in your hands then it's not an good controller.

4. Confusion on how to work games

Believe it or not many of us thought Steam Machine would've made the process easier than most computers. No it's actually worse because some games require an additional piece to work them. Games that doesn't work on that piece you will have an huge pain to figure out how to work them. Especially games like Grand Theft Auto V, one of the biggest video games ever made. Even PC gamers know some games depending on how they're made could be very easy to ridiculously difficult to play. Partly your version of Windows or Mac plays in that process as well. Sadly that also applies to your Steam Machine limiting which games would work. Bottom line even bad video game consoles made sure their bad games work come on Valve.

3. Getting an Steam Machine is very expansive
Most game consoles that's over priced doesn't do very well & dies out shortly afterwards. Steam Machine is easily the biggest offender with some models being a few thousands bucks I'm not kidding. If that's not bad enough to get just an controller it's fifty bucks. I could get many console controllers much easier & cheaper thanks to places like Goodwill. I doubt someone would donate an Steam Machine at one of those places. Also just imagine those prices you are better off with an better computer, Xbox One, Wii U & PlayStation 4. Steam Machine in every possible way is expansive possibly to some bank breaking. Any game console or computer that breaks your bank needs to avoid at all costs.

2. Several models made by other companies

As stated earlier similar to 3DO many years before. Steam Machine has many models that are all similar to computers from those companies. This by itself confuses the consumer & very likely overwhelms them with choices. This also makes trying to get any of them more difficult in the long run. Some you can't order from Steam's website forcing you to go to their website or another website selling their products. I could get an new superior Xbox One for much cheapier. Yes currently it will be an high price but I would have more options including more direct ones to getting it. Why does any of this matter some of you are wondering? If your Steam Machine breaks or some parts aren't working properly it's an huge pain to fix it.

1. Despite being widely advertise as an console it's actually an computer
The number 1 reason why it won't win against any of the big names in the current console wars. Valve mislabeled Steam Machines to be consoles when in truth are actually inferior computers. If you seen some comparison videos with Steam Machine especially those using an regular computer. Steam Machine isn't using it's superior hardware just like many okay to bad consoles before it. Everyone knows computers does have superior technology than most game consoles. Yet what's funny about this is Steam Machine comes more off like an early 90s computer with AOL then an cutting end gaming platform. Steam Machine should at least nail the graphics category but quickly losing to Xbox One & PS4 which both have mind blowing graphics. Everyone also knows Steam Machine has the largest launch line up in history. Over an thousand games compared to an not bad amount to start with. End of the day an infamous quote perfectly describes Steam Machine in an nut shell. "Quality over quantity", everyone wants an true pushing the limits game console. Not an poser trying to be an console or cheap PC rip off. What's worse is I seen many unofficial rip off consoles surprisingly & hilariously better than Steam Machine. Yes I'm not kidding hell even RetroN 5 with it's problems is better and that's an emulator capable playing of ten game consoles. Steam Machine should at least made an noticeable mark in the video game industry. Well I hate to say it, in an way it did because this clearly was way too over thought with no real support from Valve at all. You would expect one of the greatest game developers in the world would nail this. I guess not it goes to show you even the greatest can fall.

I hope this gets many of you to not buy or even try for free any of their Steam Machines. It really isn't worth your attention, money & time. Clearly there are better options with plenty of ways to go about it. Steam Machine could be one of the worst consoles to date. Until next time I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.

Top 5 Reasons Why Duke Nukem Forever is Better than Blood 2: The Chosen

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, this is aimed more at those into classic FPS games. We all remember games like Duke 3D that blew our minds. Yet so many kept saying Duke Nukem Forever is the worst game of the franchise. I highly disagree for so many reasons. But I felt there is an more disappointing FPS sequel than DNF. In fact Blood fans would very likely agree Blood 2 is worse than DNF. I came packing with great reasons to back up my claim.

5. Between both sequels, Blood 2 changed too much from original Blood

Obviously both sequels takes an noticeable amount of time later. DNF does stay true to it's roots. Duke says his lines, doing horrible things to alien leaders and simply doing what he wants without an care in the world. Sadly Blood 2 is missing Caleb's lines that really got me more into him. Although there is gore present it kinda comes off misplace. Not as close as many horror movie references. Blood 2 surprisngly isn't as dark as Blood 1. After playing both Blood games, you'll agree they're too different from each other. If you did the same with Duke 3D & Forever, chances are you understand how they connect to each other. Blood 2 has an completely different theme from the original in terms of environment & how the story plays out. Some would say it helps differing the later games. But Blood 2 does come off as somewhat of an unrelated game in just playing it.

4. At least Duke Nukem Forever put every feature to use
Blood 2 didn't put a lot of features in. Which I will explain later on in full detail. Now Blood 2 allows you to play as Caleb's friends. Each having their own lines and weapons but they remain as extras. Why because they didn't recreate the entire game for each character. Thus playing as the other three characters removes all cut scenes. Don't get me wrong some good games do this as well like Devil May Cry series. In this case it was needed for those who didn't know these characters. An great amount of this sadly will be covered later. What I am going to talk about is very simple. Blood 2 barely has bonuses for completing the game. Depending on difficulties in Duke Nukem Forever you'll unlock codes & cool stuff. Even multiplayer suffers from lack of content in comparison. In DNF you level up, getting more stuff in your place and play more creative maps. Later adding new ones in a few dlcs that are worth having.

3. Both campaigns in Duke Nukem Forever is Better
To an degree Nightmare Levels is in some ways better than original campaign in DNF. The Doctor Who Cloned Me campaign kills both Blood 2 campaigns. Blood 2 had an terrible, lazy campaign for it's time. You get on the same train a few times through out the entire game. I would go as far to say I prefer all the bosses in DNF. Yes only explosives can harm them which I won't argue. But Blood 2 bosses flat out suck for so many reasons I could do another blog on it. DNF tells both campaigns stories much better in comparison. Also present in both DNF campaigns are mini games to help give you an break from the game. Honestly Blood 2 campaigns simply doesn't work at all. I will say Nightmare Levels has an interesting concept just horribly done. Duke Nukem Forever plays more out like you're actually Duke Nukem himself kicking aliens asses. Trust me unless you are an fan of the original Blood, for the love of god don't play Blood 2.

2. Weapons is Better in DNF

Yes you can hold more weapons in Blood 2. But trying to change them out without codes is an pain most shouldn't have to deal with. It's much easier in Duke Nukem Forever because they based that concept straight out of Halo series. An questionable move yes but in this strange case it works a lot better. Blood 2 also put too many weapons available for you to use. Which only worsen this issue unless it's like some FPS games with a lot of weapons. Don't do this concept with too many weapons it just doesn't work period. What makes this worse is some of my favorite weapons from Blood 1 got ruined in this game. Burning enemies now takes some effort to pull off ruining how fun it was in Blood 1. My personal favorite weapon is shotgun which still stands as one of my favorites in any video games to date. Blood 2 not only ruined it but not wielding two weapons at the same time without an power up sucks. Dual shotguns was really fun in Blood 1 if you know how to use them. They could've speed up the reload in most weapons especially in case of shotgun.

1. Rushing Blood 2 was worse than the long development of DNF
Some say having an long development of games is bad. Some say rushing games out is just as bad. Which do I find is an bigger offense? Honestly I am fine with games having long development as long it's still playable. I don't like playing games clearly rushed out like MGSV, Sonic 06 and Blood 2. All three of these titles are not only guilty of doing that. They do share some of the major issues that regularly follows it. For starters Blood 2 has horrible AI that's really laughable. Some features never made it into the final game. In fact some glitches that does ruin the game play experience are present. Yes Nightmare Levels did fix some of these by not enough. Fans made a lot of mods to fix problems the developers themselves never got around to fix. Yes Blood 2 was rushed out not fully tested or programmed correctly in it's state. To sum up how disappointing this actually is without giving too much away. Go play Blood 1 then play Blood 2 you will go from being very happy to being piss off in record time. Blood 2 should've kept it's original date to work most of these issues out. Yes some portions of Blood 2 are almost unplayable. I highly recommend if you want to play it without experiencing it like that. Please use codes including no clip trust me it will save you a lot of head aches.

I know for some of you chances are some will be confused, some will be upset or just out of their minds. Personally I don't care for Blood 2 at all. Until next time I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.

Top 5 Changes to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain to Make It Better than What We Ended Up with

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, today will be my official response to a few recent statements from Konami. I am really upset to hear all of it to go out of my way to make my personal top 5. Very important changes that could've made the game a lot better than it currently is.

5. Mission variety differences

I love how Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker went about mission variety. They did an amazing job differing not only what's main missions & side ops ones have clear differences. They also help keep the game refresh especially when it gets intense later on. Sadly very early on in MGSV: The Phantom Pain most missions are too similar. Yes they do differ the objectives in many of them but they play out almost the same. Unlike Peace Walker, The Phantom Pain doesn't help give you an break from the intense parts. Thus some could lose it after playing this for hours. There is an great reason to differ missions & add stuff to help giving players break from the main game. The simple answer is variety wasn't presented in The Phantom Pain.

4. Better boss fights

Do I need to say this again? I already covered parts of this in another Metal Gear blog. All the bosses doesn't bring anything to the game in any possible way. To my surprise it lacks an group centered around the theme of it like most Metal Gear games. Most boss fights are difficult, not fun & cheap. Luck will only get you so far in The Phantom Pain. You honestly get a lot more help in Peace Walker especially in true final boss. Sadly your buddies doesn't help you much in most of these which sucks. What we need is obvious an rememberable group that we actually are interested in seeing Big Boss going up against. They should've redesigned every boss fight to make it more on Metal Gear's standards. They don't even come up like Metal Gear bosses at all.

3. Better story overall
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Yes spoilers all endings are terrible including the one not presented in final game. The actual story itself had some good parts but never came together. It was like cooking an great dish but in an team and not everyone was on the same page. This is exactly how this feels like to me. Everyone knows Metal Gear games are widely known for their stories. Most fans agree The Phantom Pain had an horrible story. Yes it's miles better than Snake's Revenge on NES but still pretty bad. I would go as far to say MGSV: Ground Zeroes had an better story. Now that's just sad if you ask me. The true ending connected to you replaying missions on harder conditions was simply not needed at all. How they went about it was confusing to most. Basically unless you look it up on an great website or watch an fan theory video. You won't understand it at all that's how horribly done it actually is. Bottom line an new storyline that actually connects more directly to Metal Gear 1 would've worked better.

2. Improve FOX Engine or an new one entirely
In an more recent statement FOX Engine wasn't working properly. You would think Konami should've gave them more time or allow them to come up with an new one instead. Sadly according to that statement Konami didn't. FOX Engine was good in what it did try doing. I felt I do agree with everyone it should've blown all of us away. I hate to say this but based on a few Assassin's Creed games, they're engine is working better. Those games are more up to people's standards in comparison to MGSV as an whole. In this case an entirely new engine would be the right thing to do to fix this problem. By today's standards even considering Xbox One & PS4 versions. All of them look more like the previous counterparts than what they're suppose to be. Assasin's Creed series does better in that area on more platforms.

1. Exploring should've been cut down in several areas

An huge problem that should've been fixed on day one. Both MGSV games have too big of an map to work. Assassin's Creed games does an much better job in doing that. At least they took time planning in what you can do depending on what's happening better. Plus Assassin's Creed allows you to get use to places you explore more. I felt most environments in both MGSV games are pretty boring as they look similar to each other. Again Assassin's Creed nails that better with each place being more different than the last. Your mother base can easily become way too big to explore. If they kept it just like Peace Walker instead, I wouldn't mine it much. Metal Gear is also widely known for it's secrets. Although it really under delivered, they had some good extras. But the fact remains simply cutting these areas down but keep them big at an agreeable level. It would've had an better impact on me. In doing so makes finding secrets easier & more fun to do on the side.

I hope you guys enjoy my Metal Gear blog, I am writing one more unrelated blog entry to follow shortly. Until next time I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Jack Red reviews Wolf Pack

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, recently I got Wolf Pack on Steam. Previously a few years ago I got Wolfenstein 3D on Xbox 360. I loved it ever since I first played it. Both Spear of Destiny & Return to Castle Wolfenstein were new to me. But I knew of them for a few years. I decided to buy Wolf Pack on Steam quickly playing all three games. Which also comes with all expansion packs for Wolfenstein 3D & Spear of Destiny. I really got a lot to say on all three of them but I'll try to make interesting.

Wolfenstein 3D (1992)

Believe it or not Wolfenstein 3D is actually an remake of an classic computer game called Castle Wolfenstein. id Software decided to recreate it their way being surprisingly true to it. id Software following this game became the owners of Wolfenstein franchise. This game still blows many people away today. Not only this started FPS genre, this also gave notice to console gamers about computers as well. Wolfenstein 3D begin an theme with FPS games that pushed DOS & other computer companies. It is an impressive feat to have an game as complex as Wolfenstein 3D & it works very well. Most levels are maze inspired allowing you to explore around each floor including secret ones. In Wolfenstein 3D you are B.J. Blazkowicz an American soldier taking on the Nazis. Now what's interesting is there's two main plots. I am not kidding the original three episodes is all about hunting down Adolf Hitler. Episodes 4-6 are prequel to those episodes about him stopping an chemical warfare from happening. Most classic FPS games doesn't have as close as many levels as Wolfenstein 3D. Officially counting secret levels there are sixty levels. Not many games has more levels even if I included their expansions. Everything about this game works very well. You quickly get use to enemies including bosses. An handful of weapons with majority sharing the same ammo. An great soundtrack for it's time. If I have any major problems with this. I think many people would agree some levels are confusing to figure out where to go.

Spear of Destiny (1992)

Not too long after Wolfenstein 3D, id Software comes back with Spear of Destiny. Like The Nocturnal Missions for Wolfenstein 3D. Spear of Destiny takes place before those episodes. Instead of doing the episodes theme like Wolfenstein 3D. Spear of Destiny decided to give you one big episode kinda like Doom II did to Doom 1. Sadly only bosses changed with some new level designs. Everything else is incredibly similar to Wolfenstein 3D. In fact I could do an blog about top 5 ways to differ Doom II to Doom 1 for those that can't tell the difference. I can't say the same about Spear of Destiny. Many people often called it an expansion to Wolfenstein rather than an follow up because of that. To be honest Spear of Destiny is an great game. This game started an theme that stopped with Final Doom. Which was each main game as well as expansions from ID Software would keep getting tougher. Yes Spear of Destiny is tougher to beat than Wolfenstein 3D. Honestly compared to most official Doom expansions, it wasn't as much as fun. You really need to memorize every level clearly if you want to survive.

Mission Packs for Spear of Destiny (1994)

Roughly two years later FormGen released two expansions for Spear of Destiny. I will only state what I didn't talk about in another recent blog entry relating to these. Both of them are horribly put together. Much tougher & more unforgiving compared to Spear of Destiny. Everything doesn't work with these games at all.

http://jackred1989.blogspot.com/2016/09/top-5-reasons-why-mission-packs-for.html

Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001)

In 2001 an company called Grey Matter Interactive with id Software. The first official reboot of an historical video game franchise. Return to Castle Wolfenstein is still considered by many one of the greatest FPS of all time. They brought most of what I loved about Wolfenstein 3D & built on it. This was an refreshing take on the concept. Just like Wolfenstein 3D was technically impressive for it's time. So was Return to Castle Wolfenstein as many consider it one of the best among early 2000s games. Everything works incredibly well with this game. I am honestly really impressed how great this game actually is. Probably my second favorite Wolfenstein game as of recently. I love the controls, doing each objective and most cut scenes. I barely have any major issues with this game is an great sign. My biggest issue was how unbalanced the bosses are compared to the other games in Wolf Pack. Let me explain the first boss is pretty much normal. Roughly 50% you will either die or survive to fight another day. The second boss was the hardest boss in all of Wolf Pack. I kid you not Super Soldier boss was very difficult. The final boss was too easy after you figure him out. Honestly yes some of your enemies does surprise damage to you but this also occurs in the other games in this pack. Sadly no one is playing it online so I haven't got to play what many considered the best part of it. Return to Castle Wolfenstein is one of the best video game reboots I ever played. The developers knew this had a lot of high expectations because of Wolfenstein 3D. The fact this delivered exactly what most of them wanted tells you how amazing this game is. You get a lot more weapons with some having secondary fires kinda like Perfect Dark. This was an great modern take on an classic video game concept that easily could've gone wrong. Yes I'm not hiding how much I love this game. Some enemies mostly undead are the worst because it takes a lot of ammo to put them down. Some will constantly come after you limiting how you fight them. Most Nazis themselves are done very well compared to those from Wolfenstein 3D. This is an solid game that many more people needs to play.

From worst to best among all games included in Wolf Pack down below...
4. Both mission packs for Spear of Destiny
3. Spear of Destiny
2. Return to Castle Wolfenstein
1. Wolfenstein 3D

I hope you guys like my Wolfenstein blog entry, don't forget to check out an more in depth look at those mission packs. I am currently going to try to get more into Wolfenstein series. I already was an huge Doom fan for an few years. I just can't get enough from id Software more recently with some of the best games. Until next time I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.

Top 5 Reasons Why Mission Packs for Spear of Destiny is the Worst Expansion Packs

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, in an way I'm making an tie in blog for another recent blog entry. Until Wolf Pack I honestly didn't think I would find expansions worse than Duke: Nuclear Winter. To my surprise both mission packs for Spear of Destiny are terrible in every sense of the word. In fact I'm came with my personal top 5 reasons why they suck so bad I doubt I could find an expansion worse.

5. Weird weapons & character designs

Many expansions does have stuff in terms of level designs. Some of them do add or replace weapons like Duke Caribbean. Why are all guns in these expansions so blue? I agree with majority they look more like toy guns than real ones. Some characters looks slightly better than their Spear of Destiny/Wolfenstein 3D counterparts. Yet mutants are replaced by mutant bats holding gun turrets. The worst looking enemies of all are attack dogs. In most Wolfenstein games Nazis use German Shepherds as attack dogs. What the hell happened to really screw up their attack dogs? Not only the dog's breed is wrong but why in the holy hell are all of them dark blue. Nothing about their design makes sense at all making them very out of place. They replaced all enemy voice overs with terrible laughable ones. Yes to some degree they sound slightly more German. Honestly audio isn't very good here especially both expansions are reusing Spear of Destiny's soundtrack. Don't get me wrong it works for Spear of Destiny just fine. You expected they would change some songs or make an new one entirely. Nope you have the same exact soundtrack. Even weapons doesn't sound very good that really takes away from playing them.

4. Terrible level designs

Most of these levels are terrible for so many reasons. Some of the absolute worst level textures I ever seen. Some levels has terrible enemy placements resulting in you dying a lot with little to no way around them. Some are very tedious levels that involves constantly finding secrets to process. In Wolfenstein 3D & Spear of Destiny getting lost isn't so bad. But in both these mission packs getting lost could take a lot longer to figure out where to go. Some level textures not only sticks out in your mind for the worst reasons. They don't fit the theme they're meant for at all. Very strange colors & textures that are horribly dated even back then. Somehow the boxes from Doom series makes an surprising appearance in Floor 21 of Mission 3.

3. Both mission packs has the same bosses that are too similar to Spear of Destiny's bosses
Yes they changed all bosses from Spear of Destiny into new ones. But not much changed as they still fight similar to the bosses they represented. All voice overs by original bosses are oddly present. In fact among defeating an boss level, the replaced bosses names appear instead of new ones. At least in Duke: Nuclear Winter the final boss was very different from those of the main game. The only new boss to have original sounds is Robot whose replacing Death Knight.

2. Their covers are too similar to Spear of Destiny's

Yes many expansions especially those not authorized reused their respective game's cover to an degree. This is an very strange case as both Mission Pack covers are almost the same as Spear of Destiny's. I am not kidding they barely changed anything at all just the title. Now talk about laziness I'll show some okay expansion covers more worth looking at. I could name a few more but why bother if it's so obvious they didn't try making it look good.

1. Half-Life: Blue Shift


2. Final Doom


3. Duke: Nuclear Winter


1.Despite story descriptions, both follow the same exact story as Spear of Destiny
Most expansions have very different stories from their main games. What's weird is both mission packs follows the same level set design with bosses included. Both share the same ending from Spear of Destiny instead of an new one. Basically an company called FormGen allowed someone to recreate Spear of Destiny twice to call it as expansions. No an expansion should be an possible follow up without being another major game. Thus if it doesn't continue the story in any possible way. How could it actually be an expansion? Oh okay I could excuse BJ was too weak from facing the Angel of Death. Shortly he loss the Spear of Destiny with Nazis not having it. Suddenly Nazis get it again forcing BJ to go after it again. What I don't accept is this technically happened three times. We are talking about an guy who willingly took on the Nazis like Doomguy took on demons.You would think after going through it again BJ would keep it away this time. At least in all expansions I shown in this blog entry has different stories with their own endings. Not only that all three of them do prefer much more from their original games too.

I hope you guys enjoy this because I'm directly following this up with another Wolfenstein blog entry. Regardless I will consider getting more into those games as I am an fan of id Software. Especially Doom II is my personal favorite among all that I played from them. Until next time I'm Jack Red and I'll see all of you later.

Monday, September 5, 2016

Top 10 Worst Licensed Genesis Games

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, not too long ago I revealed the best licensed games I grew up with on Sega Genesis. Now it's time to talk about the worst as I take my sweet time covering the bottom of the barrel. To clarify some of these games are mixed. Not all of them are bad but some of them you should avoid regardless.

10. Virtual Bart

Everyone knows both Genesis & SNES didn't get great Simpsons games. At this point only played one good one that everyone is well familiar with. I'm talking about the original arcade classic that I used to play at Chuck E. Cheese growing up. Some point I eventually got into the show & became an huge fan. I had played almost all Genesis games of The Simpsons. Virtual Bart always stood out due to it's concept. Very similar to Bart's Nightmare that I briefly played as an rental. Both games are centered around you completing all kind of mini games as Bart. Unlike Bart's Nightmare, Virtual Bart barely nails anything at all. Tomatoes/Eggs mini game is hands down the best out of the bunch. Water slide is an very close second for many reasons. What ruins the experience directly implies to the rest of them. Yes you guess it the controls aren't that great. Especially baby & dinosaur mini games that are strict about platforming. You got another Road Rash clone mini game that I usually lose. Of course Pig Bart is probably the most mixed out of them all. Yes there are a few good things but plenty of bad ones. It's hard to say if I like it or hate it. This lacks a lot of humor from the show. Thankfully more recently there's more good Simpsons games out there.

9. Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble

I will be honest I didn't care much for this game despite being into Looney Tunes growing up. Sega has a couple of 3D platformers on Genesis with most not being good. Although I do recommend Toy Story as it nailed just what it's suppose to be. Bugs was always my favorite Looney Tunes character. This game barely has any humor to call it an Looney Tunes game. Honestly some levels are frustrating due to what you're actually suppose to do. It took me an long while to get use to the controls. Nothing really stands out for good reasons about this game.

8. Animaniacs

Animaniacs was an great cartoon for it's time. I grew up with Genesis version never getting far. Similar to Aaahh!!! Real Monsters on Genesis. You can switch between all three characters since each one does something different. Unlike Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, this is very frustrating to play. Yes this has humor from the show but not enough to counter it's flaws. You quickly have to learn how to use all three of them or you're screwed. Do I even need to say this? Platforming in this game is terrible. Purely luck if you make any short to longer jumps. Now for any cartoon game to not nail jumping & landing that's sad.

7. Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool

I briefly played at my cousin's house, Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool. Of course most snack tie in games aren't great. I been hearing Chex Quest is one of the best snack tie in games. Also if you got Dash of Destruction downloaded before it got removed. I recommend that game for being more true to it's respective snack. This game is down right terrible in virtually every area. You can easily get confused, lost, killed and more importantly frustrated to possibly throwing your controller. Sadly the closest to an good thing this piece of crap has going for it. In all honestly has to be Chester's sprites do look great.

6. Warlock

I really don't like this movie game. Despite it's title, Warlock is actually based on Warlock 2. WOW the controls are an mess & difficult to get use to them. It's really easy to die in this game especially falling. Not falling off screen, how about an height regularly in some games you get some damage. But instantly kills you instead, what were they thinking? Thankfully it's easy to memorize what to do at times. Some levels are an serious pain to get through, expect to die a lot. Warlock is surprisingly unforgiving for an movie game.

5. Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade's Revenge

Let's get this out of the way yes this has an great soundtrack. Also the first game to get parts of Spider-Man's abilities right. Now what is so bad about this game some of you may ask? This is an cross over game that could've been great or at least okay. No we ended up getting an very unforgiving game. Acclaim ruined the entire development of this game by rushing the developers resulting in what it is today. Only an handful of levels are worth talking about. Majority of them are really hard for most to play. Most didn't get correctly themed levels. Gambit is missing his staff that clearly was in X-Men 1 and 2 on Genesis. Some bosses are not fair at all like Master Mold, Juggernaut and Arcade. Why does Storm levels play somewhat like Ecco the Dolphin? Everyone knows she can control the weather more like her in the last portion you play as her. An bigger question why couldn't we simply get that Storm instead of the one in those horrible swimming levels. I could keep going on how much I hate it.

4. Ariel the Little Mermaid

Believe it or not my first game is Ariel the Little Mermaid. I was very young first playing my Sega Genesis. I did see the movie this game was based on. This game barely follows the movie at all. Surprisingly BlueSky Software one of the best developers Sega had at the time made this. Only an handful of levels that are ridiculously easy. I am not kidding I could play the entire game several time with an blind fold. All you do in this game is rescue sea people & fight bosses that's it. I will say the music is great but everything else about it an huge disappointment. It's bad to have games too difficult to play. It's actually worse to beat an game much easier & not feeling any sense of achievement.

3. Beavis & Butt-Head

I remember seeing a little of Beavis & Butt-Head growing up. Still one of my favorite MTV shows to this day. I also grew up with Genesis version that has a lot of good & bad things. Let's get the good stuff out of the way first. Clearly they did an great job making this like the show. From the graphics to the songs & humor it comes a lot closer to what I expect in an licensed game. Yes there is an password system that's the very center of what's good & bad about it. Let me explain every password starts the game up just like normal. You have to check your bedroom for tickets. You don't keep any items at all in using passwords just like Zombies Ate My Neighbors. But that's an great game that I always wanted to talk about some time. Beavis & Butt-Head has some serious flaws not counting those related to it's password systems. Although you can play as both characters with each having their own health bar. You would be very surprised to know how easy it is to die. I highly recommend two options to make playing this a lot easier.

1. Find an great written or video guide
2. Use game genie

Most areas you get to explore are short but still recommend you to do somethings in order. Of course I don't like the hospital area at all. You have to eat an rotten burger, hurry to the hospital. The whole time you're hurrying your health bars goes down quick. Once you enter the building you can't leave. Sadly eating that burger is the only way in the entire game to get full health. Oh it gets worse as soon as you get the scooter the single worst portion starts. Regularly medic boxes represent health items. Not in Beavis & Butt-Head, they act as hazards in this chase. After three to four hits, that almost naked guy gets close to quickly jump at you ending in game over. There is also an part with an soldier you have to get an snake in order to get an piece of the tickets. If you don't do this, among touching that document gives you game over. A lot of stuff that don't come off natural. What's worse is Radical Entertainment made this. The same company to give us good Hulk games as well as Prototype series.

2. Last Action Hero

Based on the movie of the same name is terrible. This barely looks like the movie at all. Very obviously by Jack Slater looking nothing like Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is an boring, repetitive beat em up. When you think of action movies what usually comes to mind? Everyone firing guns at each other and explosions.Ridiculous stuff made easy compared to doing the same thing in real life. This game doesn't deliver the action movie experience in video game. This is more likely an kid trying to be cool & everyone prevents they're not there. It just doesn't work with terrible driving levels. There is no real strategy in beating up bad guys especially when you're getting fire at. The game itself doesn't correctly prepare you for this in any way. Last Action Hero sucks in every category imaginable. Please avoid Last Action Hero as it will make many lives happier not playing it.

1. Batman Forever

Yes I had Batman Forever on Sega Genesis. Thankfully it's not as close as bad as SNES version. But it's still one of the absolute worst Genesis games to date. Why are the controls from Mortal Kombat games being used in an Batman game? What's weirder is we're using fighting game controls to an beat em up game. Regularly this doesn't work very well trying to pull off moves. Guess what most of your gadgets are used as those moves now that's an horrible idea. This game quickly becomes incredibly tedious, repetitive, boring and frustrating. For an beat em up game it barely has bosses. The controls are some of the absolute worst I ever played in any video game console. Yes this actually has voice overs from Jim Carrey & Tommy Lee Jones from their characters. This does follow the movie a lot more than other movie games on the console. This game in every sense of the world does not work. I would rather play Batman Returns on Sega Genesis since that's an better overall game. Yes it's heavily mixed by many but still more of what I wanted. Batman Forever was an terrible follow up to that game. What's interesting now I think about it. Batman 1989 was the best out of four movies. Quickly followed by Batman Returns then Batman Forever then finally Batman & Robin. In an weird way Genesis nailed that except Batman & Robin actually did slightly better than both Batman Forever games. Yes you heard me correctly there exists another Batman Forever game in the arcade. Officially ported to PlayStation & Sega Saturn as Batman Forever The Arcade Game. Last I heard this game better than the previous Batman Forever game. In all seriousness Batman Forever on any platform should be avoided by all costs especially if you're an Batman fan. It's not worth losing your sanity over.

I hope you guys understand it took years for me to get why so many people were funny about licensed games. There's plenty of good & bad ones to keep a lot of people busy. Honestly I got many great games to help me from some of these games growing up. I always welcome any good licensed games especially if I'm an fan of that franchise. Until next time I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.