Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Resident Evil VII: Biohazard Gold Edition review

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, Capcom went back to the drawing boards after Resident Evil 6. They knew by this point, they had to do something to save the franchise. Resident Evil VII: Biohazard was going to reboot it. Mainly in game play wise as it still continues the story of the previous games. Also similar to the confusion with Sega's Dr. Robonik's name. Capcom decided to bring both known titles for this franchise together. What's more interesting Japan's version title is Biohazard VII: Resident Evil.


I got so much to talk about with Resident Evil VII. Yes Capcom did several attempts at making an first person Resident Evil game. Some of these are terrible while others were meant for an different purpose altogether. For example Chronicles series originally released on Wii recreates some of the main games in rail shooter style.

Resident Evil: Dead Aim maybe an precursor to games like Fallout 3. You can play both of them in first & third person shooter games. At one point the original Resident Evil was going to be done in first person. But ultimately chose to go with third person as they had a lot of unexpected problems.

Resident Evil VII not only goes back to horror. I got to be honest this is the scariest sequel ever. Most Resident Evil games has okay voice acting with some exceptions. Resident Evil VII has some of the best voice acting of the entire series. I kid you not this has one of the best casts of any Resident Evil game.

They went the extra mile in the horror elements. I would go as far to say it is just as terrifying as an real horror movie. You get to see such disgusting spoiled food & pieces of corpses similar to movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. The way every character interacts with each other comes off very realistic & believable.

This time you get to play as three characters. Clancy in some video tapes you find during the game. He was an camera man for an haunted places show. Mia is in some video tapes but does briefly replace Ethan later in the campaign. Finally we get to Ethan whose searching for his wife Mia. An huge difference from the previous games is this time a virus & parasite isn't the cause behind it.

An mysterious character named Eveline was an experiment that can transform people into monsters. I grew up with VHS tapes close to the end of companies making them. I was excited to see each tape acts as an mini important portion of the game. Thus we get more back story to what's going on.

Some newer main Resident Evil games has little to no puzzles. Resident Evil was widely known for it's puzzles inspiring games like Konami's Silent Hill series. I felt having puzzles does have more challenge especially in some parts you got to be fast. So not keeping up with these puzzles does remove some of it's challenge.

Also some puzzles added more uniqueness to the series as an whole. Resident Evil VII does an great job with it's puzzles. Yeah they are a bit easier but testing area had the craziest puzzle of all. You are forced to go in this section without your stuff. You must rely on your intelligence & awareness. This long puzzle requires knowing what to do & not to do in order to survive. This particular puzzle is cruel for not paying attention to those details.

Most your regular enemies are called molded. They are similar to some previous games enemies. But I felt their name fit them better than most of them. Personally the four legged Molded enemies are my favorites. Maybe it is just me but they really remind me of classic Lickers from Resident Evil 2. You also have to deal with bees.

Although they're only in the old house & easy to avoid at times. I do recommend with an flame thrower burn their hives. Sure they aren't any special but compared to several previous RE games with their respective instinct enemies. I am glad they aren't capable of killing you instantly & aren't in many rooms. Thus they are similar to bees of Resident Evil Remake.

Of course I got to talk about the bosses. In some degree it is an improvement over some of the previous games. They didn't go too far like most RE6 boss fights. I like they did different angles of boss fights. They haven't been doing that since Revelations 1. I would say Mia does set the stage for the boss fights of the game. I like the part you get to fight her with an axe. All three boss fights with Jack Baker are more different from each other. You get two different boss fights with his wife Marguerite.

I felt those were easier & not as good as Jack's boss fights. Still better than his final boss fight in my opinion. You have to take on an big fat Molded enemies at several points. These guys are very annoying as they constantly throw up long distances or spills acidic blood at you. Eveline is an disappointment for an final boss. I hate to say it but Jack Norman aka Ultimate Abyss was the last true final boss experience.

Both Eveline & final Jack boss fights are ridiculously easy. My favorite boss fight despite how many doesn't like it has to be the second Jack boss fight. You have to push big bags at him for most of this boss fight. Then he goes for his custom giant chainsaws shiver. Lucky you get to use an chainsaw to even the odds.

You don't get as close as many weapons as previous Resident Evil games. But I felt we were given an good amount for this style RE game. You get two different handguns, two different knives, an shotgun, an flame thrower, an machinegun and remote bombs. I love how well you can control your character.

Some of the best controls in an Resident Evil game. You also can get two different endings depending on which characters gets the antidote. I love the audio in general possibly one of the best in the series. You can unlock infinite ammo making achievement/trophy hunting more fun. Upon beating the game you could try Madhouse difficulty. Obviously it is the hardest difficulty but brought in some clever changes to the experience.

I also like you get to explore similar to the first few RE games. This is something I really miss from the previous games. I felt that was an huge part of what it is suppose to be. I am not saying I didn't like the previous games for limiting us in one particular locations or throw us at several of them. I will say Resident Evil 6 threw too much at our faces.

I honestly felt the entire exploring on foot aspect has been missing for several years now. After all in the United States this series is called Resident Evil for an reason. They did an amazing job with everything, I am very impressed by Resident Evil VII: Biohazard. A solid sequel that comes close as scary as the original Resident Evil.

Beyond this point is me covering everything you get from buying the dlcs. There is so much to cover easily beating the amount of me explaining the main game to shame. Officially there is four dlcs with two of them having several mini games. You can buy most of them separately or get season pass which I did or wait for Resident Evil VII Gold Edition.

This portion of my review is covering Banned Footage Vol. 1. Nightmare has Clancy trapped in the main house's basement for several hours. It is up to you to survive until then from moldy enemies & Jack. This quickly became one of my absolute favorite Resident Evil mini games. Even doing bad runs will eventually lead to something good.


Why because each run will add your scores to your overall one which unlocks stuff to help you out. Similar to Five Nights at Freddy's series, you have to survive five hours. Let's be honest this is similar to those zombie mini games within Call of Duty series. Personally I prefer Nightmare over those any day sue me.

If you do end up beating Nightmare, you'll unlock Night Terror. Essentially the hard mode of Nightmare adding enemies & reducing how much scraps you can get. Instead of money, you'll use scraps to buy stuff. In that regard it is similar to using bottle caps in Fallout series. I do recommend trying this mini game out.

Next up is Bedroom that's inspired by Stephen King's Misery. You play as Clancy again trapped inside a bedroom. The goal of this is to escape the room. You don't need to rush to complete it or you can die quickly. Thankfully Marguerite is your only enemy to worry about. In my opinion this is the easiest Resident Evil VII mini game to complete.


Bedroom is one of the shortest among everything you get in Resident Evil VII. After a few failed attempts you quickly memorize what to do. Once again I do recommend playing this. The last mini game added in Banned Footage Vol. 1 is Ethan Must Die. Clearly a reference to Dante Must Die difficulty in Devil May Cry series.

Ethan Must Die does little to help since you are forced to mostly run with a very limited amount of ammo. A good number of boxes has bombs that can kill you in one hit. You have to rush in a mini game that goes out of it's way to stop you. Personally I am not crazy for this mini game. For every time you restart after dying you can find a statue to break. However doing so at pure random will give you something you had last time.


This portion of my review is covering Banned Footage Vol. 2. Daughters is the earliest story potion predating most story dlc mini games and the main game. You play as Zoe in what she called the worst night of her life for several months. This also has two endings depending which door you go to while avoiding her mother. You mostly worry about her parents during majority of it.

Like Bedroom, after a few playthroughs you will know what to do. I do think avoiding Marguerite is the hardest part. I do like how it ties how the Bakers got involved. I do enjoy playing this mini game for what it is. I will say for the record there is better story mini games within Resident Evil VII. I do recommend this to fellow Resident Evil fans.


One of my favorite Resident Evil VII mini games has to be 21. You play as Clancy again forced to play three different twisted takes of black jack against another victim. The first series of games has you & your opponent's hand inside a device. Depending what's at stake you or your opponent loses fingers. Upon losing five fingers, you lose the match.


The second series of games has you & your opponent's hand in another device. This time who ever loses gets electrocute. Losing up to 10, causes the loser to be shock to death. Also this is trickier than the previous black jack you just played. Also you or your opponent can get an 11 card. Sometimes either one of you can quickly get 21.

The final series of games plays very differently from the first two. As Lucas explains, you are now playing to increase the distance of the final death device. This thing has a lot of knives spinning around. Once again depending on what's at stake determines how far or close it will be from you. I really don't need to tell you the goal of this.

Lucas is playing with a man like a puppet. Although you find out after winning your opponent was alive just before finally getting killed. Guess what if you recall Happy Birthday tape in the main game. This mini game took place prior to that. The other two mini games with Clancy took place prior to 21.

I felt since they threw in a twist at the very end of 21. I really want to save people the frustration I felt. Lucas starts playing very dirty with an unclear way of winning. You could be doing very well but losing here is an instant loss. If you remember the trump card love your enemy. Shortly after Lucas pulls this on you. Play love your enemy trump card to win the match.

I should mention during the second set of matches. You & your opponent will be given trump cards. Which greatly affect the game since both players are using the same deck. Which doesn't include Kings, Queens, Jacks, Jokers & Aces. This campaign can be frustrating but a lot of fun to keep coming back for more. Obviously the people behind this mini game were fans of Saw series.

Upon beating 21, you unlock Survival mode. The first death trap with getting your fingers cut off. This time you must beat five opponents to win. If you beat Survival, you can attempt Survival+ mode. The device from the second set of games comes back. You now have to defeat ten opponents with one surprise. At pure random during this comes a mini game an exclusive opponent.

The last mini game of Banned Footage Vol.2 is easily one of my favorite REVII mini games. Jack's 55th Birthday stands as the closest of being REVII's The Mercenaries. You play as Mia to feed Jack in three major locations of the game. This mini game requires great strategy & thinking fast on your feet.


Yes you only get six levels but each versions of those locations gives you a different experience. You get some great unlockables to keep the replay value high. A lot of people love comparing this to Ethan Must Die. Some of Jack's best lines are surprisingly in this mini game. You have to defeat some enemies including his wife Marguerite to unlock several areas.

This is the only mini game to have an ranking system. The lowest being an C rank with the highest being an SS rank. Usually getting an C rank in a game is a good thing. They made it tricky to get an SS rank since it requires having the right stuff & knowing a few tricks. If you are good enough, you can play more of bonus time than your usual time.

Beyond this point I talk about the final two dlcs. Not a Hero takes place after the main game following Chris Redfield. His mission is take Lucas alive for answers. Originally suppose come out back in March. I felt this dlc was well worth the wait for many reasons. Parts of the controls were changed making the experience different from most things in Resident Evil VII.


You have to pay attention to the oxygen at several parts in the campaign. A handful of tough bosses that are well designed. They did a great job adding Chris into the story. Yes almost an hour long but a lot of fun. Not a Hero is a little strict on the learning curve. Thankfully after a few attempts you will know what to do.

They do have some nice twists to the story keeping you on the edge. Officially confirmed to be tougher than the main game. To me the later portions of Not a Hero reminds me of Fallout series. I do enjoy the final boss fight against Lucas. He also gets the award for the creepiest face in all of Resident Evil series.

I do recommend Not a Hero to people although it fails in comparison to other dlcs. I'm not saying it wasn't good enough because it is one of the best things in all of Resident Evil VII. What really caught me by surprise was End of Zoe. WOW I really wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not. Shortly after I started playing, instantly fell in love with it.


Let's get the obvious out of the way first. Before playing this Jack manipulated by Eveline was my favorite character. Right now my favorite character is his brother Joe. This guy quickly steals the show right after the mini game starts. A little longer than Not a Hero in length but packs more contents.

You do get spears, branches and gauntlets for your fists. Unlike most things in Resident Evil series were your usual default weapon is a knife. Here your default weapon is your fists. Anyone with the balls to flat out beat the crap out of these monsters. I would take to a bar to get very drunk I'm not kidding.

Joe is on a personal mission to save his niece from dying by the hands of Eveline. I really like how different this plays from the rest of the content found in Resident Evil VII. This allows stealth kills since you're mostly in a swamp. You can use insects as baits to surprise attack enemies. You do unlock stuff in both new REVII dlcs by beating it on three difficulties.

End of Zoe gave us another good final boss fight. The punching controls are some of the best I ever experienced. You take on what used to be his brother Jack in an intense showdown for Zoe. This dlc felt like a totally new game. I really love most of Joe's lines for many reasons. I highly recommend End of Zoe with an passion.

Time for a bonus, I strongly felt some of these are now among my favorite of Resident Evil mini games. So I figured since I'm reviewing Resident Evil VII to do a quick Top 5 list about them.

Top 5 Best Resident Evil VII Mini Games
5. Not a Hero
4. 21
3. Nightmare
2. Jack's 55th Birthday
1. End of Zoe

I hope everyone enjoys my review of Resident Evil VII. I always been a huge fan of the series since child hood. I'm Jack Red and I'll see all of you later.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Ranking all Ten XBLA Sonic games

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, I already reviewed majority of XBLA Sonic games. I did own all ten of them on Xbox 360. I'm currently in the process of doing it again on Xbox One. Very recently, the final XBLA Sonic game became available on Xbox One's backward compatibility. I played enough of them on Xbox 360 to rank them all for this.

10. Sonic 4 Episode 2


9. Sonic 4 Episode 1


8. Sonic the Fighters


7. Sonic 3


6. Sonic 1


5. Sonic 2


4. Sonic & Knuckles


3. Sonic Adventure


2. Sonic Adventure 2


1. Sonic CD

Ranking all Dead Rising games on Xbox One

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, I currently own all Dead Rising games on Xbox One. All seven of them including two small Xbox 360 exclusive Dead Rising games. I always been a fan of Dead Rising series since I first played the original Dead Rising. I am not here to review them since I already did most of them. I'm actually here to officially rank them all. From worst to best to help those wanting to get into the series.

7. Dead Rising 4


6. Dead Rising 2: Case West


5. Dead Rising 2: Case 0


4. Dead Rising 2


3. Dead Rising


2. Dead Rising 3


1. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Why I Don't Like The Mist Show

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, I recently took down a poor blog of mine about The Mist. I felt with the sheer disappointment that is The Mist show. I deserve to be rip apart for so many reasons. This show is one of the absolute worst Stephen King adaptations I have ever seen. A few months ago, Spike canceled the show after one season. What's amazing is even with episode 1, the ratings were very low. This show to me is a major insult to the short story and King himself.


Let's be honest this show had high expectations. Most people already watched The Mist movie several times. Even King stated along with The Shawhawk Redemption & Stand By Me to be one of his favorite adaptations of his work. We already got a very good take on that short story. How could they possibly turn that into a show?


For comic books there's plenty of things to work with. But they had to make a show based on a short story. Which was close to a hundred pages. It would be different if they took an actual Stephen King book. Keep in mind, several channels had similar shows that were doing much better. Let's be honest I wouldn't even call this a poor man's Walking Dad.


If you never heard of The Mist I will explain it to you. The story centers around a group of people trapped inside a supermarket. Most of the outside is covered in a strange mist with mysterious creatures. This story plays on paranoia, the fear of the unknown and luck. You find out a lot of things later in the story.


To sum it, there is a strong possibility this story could've inspired Konami's Silent Hill series. A good amount of the story centers around a family dealing with a lot of things. The Mist show almost completely ruined the family in a way I honestly was hoping they would die. The only one I like right off the bat is their dad.


The mom has a history the show quickly throws in your face. They made her too much of a bitch almost like being on The Maury Show or Jerry Springer Show. Their daughter is honestly one of the most useless characters I ever seen in a show. She does lie a few times & doesn't hold the truth very well. Oh get this the boy she's into, turns out to be her half brother. Now isn't that disgusting!!!


No sharp shooter was introduced, instead make way for a soldier & a thief. You find out later that guy is actually the one responsible for this. Due to being canceled, we will never know what exactly he has done. As for the thief, she lies & really doesn't hide her dishonesty. Yet they had the balls to put those two into a complex relationship.


This show also has the crazy church lady. The movie nailed her character perfectly. I really can't say the same about the show version. Early on she loses the will to live on until going into the mist. Very quickly took over the people from the church. Yet she chose to burn those that didn't want to go. This version of her isn't sure of what she is doing. In fact in parts she believes to know what could happen. It almost comes off laughable like a terrible joke that suddenly gets a room full of people laughing.


Instead of being in mostly one place. The show forces us to keep up with groups in several places. Only their dad's group is constantly moving from location to location. Half the family is staying in the mall that led to some unpleasant moments. I already talked about the crazy church lady's story. I felt keeping it mostly one with parts of another group would've work a little better. Sadly the way they chose to tell the story is really thrown in your face like you're suppose to understand everything.


I'll tell you what really doesn't help things. They quickly threw something supposedly happened to their daughter. A very good amount of the show centers around a lie. The truth is her friend secretly loved her & he drugged her to do the nasty. Oh ok so not unnecessary to have in a horror show. This kid has done some horrible things.


I know I'm talking about everything but the mist itself. There is so much to cover in one blog indeed. In the original short story & movie, creatures from another universe is roaming in ours. This led to some disturbing moments worthy of a Stephen King story. OMG how the hell did the show version ruined it so bad?


The actual mist looks too much like a fog. In fact I would go as far to say The Fog remake's fog looks better. Even Silent Hill: Revelation is better & that movie sucks too. You wouldn't believe how they change the dangers of it? Would you ever frickin guess it works almost like DC's Scarecrow fear toxins. I am not kidding, the longer you're in the mist the worse it's effects will be on you.


This mist recreates your worst fears as well as bring out the worst in person. In other words this thing knows you better than you know yourself. How the bloody hell is that even possible? At one point, the mist recreated the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I really wish I was kidding sadly I'm not. The acting overall is way below par from other okay shows I seen in the last five years.


What's hard to believe is this show came ten years after the movie version. You would think they could've given us some great material. By now some of you probably heard the strong dislike of this show. This went too far away from the source material as possible. This is more like a Silent Hill show than anything else.


You won't see the family together for long in the entire show. Now that's just poor writing for a horror show. It would be different if some powerful being were keeping them a part or another end of the world scenario. I believe you know the one zombies I mean come on that's more exciting than this. They did state they wanted to highlight the drama & how some things play out.


The mist itself wasn't even a major focus of the original short story & movie. You can tell they forced it in like I'm here. You know that annoying person you see in school you can't get away from. They over usage of the mist itself is a huge offense in & off itself. Even Fear the Walking Dead season 3 is doing much better from it's previous two seasons.


You can tell by episode 8, they were trying to force out crazy scenarios. Such as turning everybody else against a family over a lie. Seriously a lie shouldn't play this much of a role. The series finale episode has some of the absolute worst moments I ever seen in a show. A great example of this was the dad goes out of his way to drive on purpose into doors for the mall.


This cause everyone inside the mall to be killed by the mist. Really was this necessary guys because they could've just left. What should've happened is a group of bandits going into a map slaughtering everyone. Almost like a particular part of the original Dawn of the Dead. A much better horror movie I rather be watching over this crap.


This show is so bad that you already know which version I would really recommend. A comparison that's too one sided like comparing The Walking Dead: Survival Instincts to the Telltale Walking Dead games. This is one of the most boring shows I have ever seen. I really can't name a single thing I like. Everything about this show is done so poorly that I wish Stephen King would do something.


Does anyone remember the mini series based on The Shining. Maybe not a master piece but way more faithful to the source material. I do recommend that over this any day. Honestly I could continue to bash this show. There really should be a limit of how bad or faithfulness to it's source material. Clearly this show failed both ways.

Friday, October 20, 2017

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition review

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, a few weeks ago I bought some great Batman stuff on Steam. I will give a quick run down what I bought before moving to today's review. At the time of this game is only five dollars each. I paid Steam twenty bucks on all of this.

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition
2. Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition
3. Season Pass for Batman: Arkham Origins
4. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition

Prior to this purchase, I haven't played any spin off games of Arkham series. I always been curious about Arkham Origins Blackgate for a few years. This port is on many platforms with some faring better than others. Some would consider the PC port to be the worst. I can only judge it on what I played.


Everybody knows by now another team made Batman: Arkham Origins. Most spin off Arkham games are made by a few teams including the same one behind Mortal Kombat & Injustice series. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is considered canon to the time line. Therefore I must talk about it on my blog.

This is a sequel to Batman: Arkham Origins following some time after it's Cold, Cold Heart dlc. Yes some game play mechanics remain. You can move around in vents like the main games. You can fight the bad guys & famous Batman villains. You can use gadgets similar to those games. You can hack machines similar to them.

This does have the same cast as Batman: Arkham Origins with Nolan North reprising The Penguin. Surprisingly this is a very different experience from the main Arkham games. 2.5D instead of 3D style games similar to a particular dlc challenge map with Black Mask in Arkham City. Some gadget upgrades has other gadgets combine together. Obviously these gadgets would be separate.

Each Arkham game has a different hack system. In this game you quickly find the correct three digit codes. There's a few versions of these you must deal with through out the game. Instead of having an experience system like in main Arkham games. You have to find your gadgets, their upgrades, attack upgrades & armor upgrades.

Unlike most Arkham games, this one is more like games similar to Metroid & Castlevania series. You have three main sections of Blackgate. Regularly the main Arkham games has one large map filled with locations & secrets. In this game, the size of just one of those sections is very large. Also the map doesn't change when you need it to. Which makes going for upgrades & detective cases frustrating.

Let me to explain, in most main Arkham games. As stated before the main map is filled with locations. Some locations has their own maps inside them. They made it easier to tell where on the map to go. Mostly due to having pieces of the map covering several areas. They have it automatically showing up depending where on the map you are.

Sadly following some areas in those three sections is confusing. In some areas you are going left or right. But upon looking on the map you are going in the opposite direction. These maps doesn't change at all if you are going beneath or above. A few areas goes into another section. You have to find two particular routes to fight The Joker & The Penguin respectively.

Lucky that path for The Penguin is much easier to remember. You can quickly get loss trying to find the secret route to The Joker boss fight. I kid you not this could take a little longer than you probably expecting. Along with finding gadgets & upgrades. You also have to find pieces of several detective cases.

You also can find pieces of several batsuits. Unlike most Arkham games, each batsuit has abilities. For example Blackest Night batsuit makes you invincible. You have to defeat The Joker, The Penguin or Black Mask last for several things. Unlike most Arkham games, there's three different endings. Each also comes up with a extra scene at the end of the game.

This also determines what will happen after finding out the truth behind Catwoman. If you defeated The Joker last, you must go to five areas to disarm a powerful bomb inside a giant birthday gift. If you defeated The Penguin, each hostage will be close to the same heavy gunners during his boss fight. You must rescue the hostages under a strict small time limit.

If you defeated Black Mask last, you have to disarm the bombs similar to saving the warden. In my opinion this was the most difficult out of the three. To my surprise The Joker had the easiest out of the three. Usually you expect The Joker to be the most difficult since he's Batman's nemesis. Catwoman will also give you a piece of three particular batsuits.

Along with Blackest Night batsuit, Dark Knight Returns batsuit also gives you invincibility. Either way to fully experience the game you have to beat it three times. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate drops the ball on the combat. Granted it was okay for Batman: Arkham Asylum. This felt like they wanted a 3D beat em up but given us a confused 25.D game instead.

The controls plays a huge part in enjoying this legendary game series. I couldn't stop noticing some times the controls doesn't work fast enough or not at all. Mostly notable in combat since this game doesn't follow parts of the rules. A great example of this is attacking opponents wielding blades & electric rods with a few bad guys.

You have to stun him the correct way or your attacks doesn't work. Usually in the main Arkham series, if you failed you have to try again. In this game you can keep attacking them. Most bosses are very strict than I would like them to be. In a sense you get two different boss fights with him. The first one you are only fighting his henchmen while he's throwing grenades & firing at you.

The actual Black Mask fight is very simple once you figured it out. If you attempt directly fight him or you do something wrong. You are very likely to die with no way to escape. What you are suppose to do is throw a batarang to the alarm on his right. Then quickly destroy a light closest to you. Quickly go behind the cover on the ground to the right.

Finally throw another batarang to the left quickly go back beneath. Very quickly get right beneath him, wait for the option to take down & that's it. This is more like many boss fights in Arkham Knight. The Joker boss fights in this particular series isn't great overall. This has the easiest Joker boss fight that's even easier than his Arkham Asylum or Arkham Origins boss fights.

You must use line launcher often with The Joker across from you. This is strict on when to use your line launcher. If you use it at the wrong time, The Joker hits you on the spot. Later in the boss fight, he will be running towards you often. The Penguin is one of the toughest bosses in the entire game. I would go as far to say his best in the series.

You have to worry about heavy gunners & drones. This is felt with so many trivial & errors. You can't directly attack those heavy gunners. You have to wait for them to move away from you at a good distance. You can use batclaw on their backs to take them down. You can't attack them in any other way.

Out of all the henchmen in the game, those guys are the most on top of what you are doing. If you get close to The Penguin the wrong way. He will keep knocking you back with several shotgun blasts. What you have to do is get those gunners away from him. You must go up to the middle top area then work your way to the ledge there. You must drop on him then attack The Penguin according to the button commands.

Bronze Tiger fights similar to Catwoman in two of her boss fights. Thankfully he is easy to memorize. Yes it is strict what to do but you will quickly notice what to do. Solomon Grundy has the best boss fight of the entire game. He will keep charging at you often. You have to attack him by using machines & timing just right to do damage to him. This game is very strict nailing it unless you have the other method. Believe it or not, only his boss fight has two different ways to win.

This other method involves you finding the shock batarang upgrade. Then work your way to this boss fight. Make sure you analyze the water in the middle of this long area. All you have to do after this boss fights starts is go to that area. Wait for Grundy to run into the water then throw a shock batarang at him. You can quickly do a combo to knock him out. You only have to do this once to win.

In comparison of using three similar machines & wires to defeat Grundy. Deadshot ends up being the easiest boss in the game. You have to keep avoid his shoots often. There is a particular area you can't avoid those shoots at all. You quickly take out a light to stun him then quickly use a line launcher. Yes it's that easy even a caveman can do it.

Of course anyone would agree the final boss is the single worst part of the entire game. You will be fighting Catwoman in three different phrases. The first phrase is very similar to her first boss fight & Bronze Tiger's. Her second phrase is strict on countering & doing combos. You have to pay attention to a particular sound & her googles. You can take a lot of damage during this phrase.

Her final phrase is even worse since you have to pay attention to the real Catwoman attacking you. A few fakes just quickly in front of you then jump away. The real her will quickly attack you. This is the worst point of countering the attacks. It is painfully strict since if you attack too early, the real one gets a hit.

These hits do even more damage than her last phrase. If you counter at the wrong time, you won't be able to do anything when she attacks. Almost the same as attacking at the wrong time. You have to counter several times in a row then deliver a combo to her. You have to do this twice to beat the game. OMG I really don't like this final boss fight.

You will get loss often in this game even in multiple playthroughs. Although you can take out any of the big three out in any order. Believe it or not, this doesn't affect the game that much. Some areas will have bad guys waiting for you. It doesn't matter where in the campaign or you are attempting to get an 100% completion. They will be in many areas waiting to fight you.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate does have some interesting things going for it. I felt with more time & a better team would've made this port even better. In it's current state it would be the worst Arkham game I have ever played. Thank god it isn't as bad as Batman Forever on Sega Genesis. This game does some things right while others wrong.

I really can't recommend this Batman game to fellow bat fans. This game couldn't be as close as great as the main Arkham games. I can't believe this version gets a lot of hate with some of it yeah I agree. I felt there are worse Batman games in existence. I will say it was a little better than what I expected.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Bad Horror Movie Sequel Wednesdays #17 Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, this week I take a look at something that some people do like to a degree. We all do agree it's not better than the original. I am talking about Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. The Blair Witch Project is a documentary about a legend surrounding a dead witch. This takes place in Maryland which isn't common among horror movies.


The original movie was a low budget movie that got a lot of people's attention. It felt realistic with real paranoid around something that isn't exactly there. Everything about this movie was a start of a new genre of horror movies. I been somewhat close to the location these movies centers around. Most people aren't allowed much closer to the place without getting into trouble with the police.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 is clearly a cash in sequel. Oh boy the number of those will never stop coming. Obviously this is more what you expect from similar movies. Therefore it doesn't do enough to stand out on it's own. This movie quickly becomes confusing yet predictable to a degree. At least with The Blair Witch Project, the pacing especially at the end was better than this movie.

A part of the plot is similar to the original, a small group of people are doing research. They bring their papers, cameras and technology to the location in question. Sadly this is where these movies becomes more different from each other. The Blair Witch Project felt more realistic with fear showing through. It felt more believable about of these movies.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 centers more on random stuff happening. There are some clues including footage with none of them remembering any of it. Not even the book this movie is named after becomes important. I bet they couldn't come up with a better name or they were rushing this movie out. Regardless no body stands out in this movie at all.

I seen some ghost movies before & after it. This movie is right in the middle being mostly forgettable. This movie is more about ripping off Evil Dead than The Blair Witch Project. Please allow me to explain myself. Both Evil Dead movies & Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 involves a supernatural book. Among reading from it brings a powerful force after them.

There are parts in these movies where some things you see are meant to screw with you as well as for them. Hell the first two Evil Dead movies took place mostly in one location. There is no way this isn't not ripping off Evil Dead series. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 talks very little about the original movie. Considering the impact of it, I believe doing it in a better, longer way would've helped.

I usually don't comment on movie covers but I really don't like this movie's cover. This movie was playing on cheap tricks to try fooling you. Maybe just enough to get you to scream if you don't explain what's going on. In the horror movie industry this can be a good & bad thing. A good thing would be a movie way more rewatchable due to how intense & unforgettable the scenes are.

A bad take of doing things like that is you quickly frustrate your viewers. Possibly turn more people off than on is never a good thing. Yes you should gross people out but to take away the best parts or simply doing it all wrong. You know it isn't worth talking about especially for a cash in sequel. Even after you watch a trailer of the first two movies. You quickly noticed they're too different from each other.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 does exactly nothing for this franchise. In fact I heard better things about the new one. Just do yourselves a favor and pretend Book of Shadows doesn't exist. Trust me it will make you a lot happier in the long run. I honestly can't say a single thing I do like about it. The closest thing would be the goth chick but that's it.

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Horror Anthology Show Face Off #1 Tales from the Crypt vs. American Horror Story

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, not many people know this about me. I actually do enjoy horror anthology shows & movies. Honestly there's many horror anthology shows out there. Some of which still held up today. I grew up loving Tales from the Crypt. Most episodes are based on horror comic books. The closest show I seen to it is American Horror Story. I know many people will agree to disagree. I felt having some major things in common. This is the perfect one to kick off this new blog series. I won't be doing this very often.


Tales from the Crypt show inspired a few shows & movies. Itself was very different from Tales from the Crypt movie & it's follow up The Vault of Horror. To me this has the best horror host ever. The Crypt Keeper is very entertaining to watch. As stated before most episodes are based on horror comic books. The very last episode is a twisted retelling of the fairy tale The Three Little Pigs.


American Horror Story does take a lot of facts & fictions. Some of what you're seeing either did happen a long time ago or real life legends. By having them adds more fear knowing some of it did happen in real life. Of course they can change up how they see fit. You could say to some degree it sorta reminds you of Tales from the Crypt.

Very quickly I should explain why I must do this blog. Both shows are allowed full blood & gore as well as showing more of their sex scenes. Although American Horror Story got censored to some degree on TV. Most DVD releases are uncensored showing very tough stuff to swallow. I am bringing this up because HBO stoke a deal with the Tales from the Crypt show.

They allowed everything to be shown in their original airing. Even now many horror shows are that lucky. Another thing they have in common is yes both of them are horror anthology shows. Tales from the Crypt really stood up their game in the early 90s. Unlike most horror anthology shows, American Horror Story has each season being like another show.

They do bring things in to help give you an idea how it connects together. Tales from the Crypt stories are all stand alone. I should mention at the very end of a particular episode, you get to see a baby Crypt Keeper. Both did stories on voodoo, circuses, asylums, ghosts, vampires and a few more. Both shows to some degree does have some dark humor.

Both shows has a lot of cursing making it more realistic & believable. A lot of ways people die does happen on both shows. American Horror Story has some true stories they built upon for their show. Everything you see in Tales from the Crypt is fictional. Some actors on Tales from the Crypt has did a few roles. This is way more common in American Horror Story with most of the cast.

Let's be honest there really isn't anything as close as good as these two. They give us two very great takes of horror anthology shows. I don't even need to mention their fan bases are constantly growing at a fast. Each season of American Horror Story is more different than the last. Most episodes of both shows are really worth rewatching.

I'll be honest season 7 of Tales from the Crypt with the possible exception of the final episode is terrible. They moved from California to England losing most of their resources. How the final episodes of each season of American Horror Story & every Tales from the Crypt episodes will surprise you. I would go as far to say this is a debate worth having with people.

Even comparing their finest special effects rivals some of the greatest horror movies & shows. I kid you not I highly recommend both of them to everyone willing to give them a try. Especially close to Halloween where suddenly becomes more fun as you keep waiting. American Horror Story is still on TV currently airing season 7.

The famous saying it's not how you start but how you finish. I should do a final version of this when the times comes. Until then I am pulling hairs which horror anthology show I like more. You really can't go wrong with either show. I see a lot of creativity in both of them making this incredibly difficult. It might come down to the small things. In this case season 7 of Tales from the Crypt.


Yes Tales from the Crypt had more big name stars. You would be surprise which ones actually appears on the show. By having stand alone stories does go a long way. But when your competition goes the extra mile putting all their eggs into each season as one large story. You know all your effort just wasn't enough.

In terms of censorship yes Tales from the Crypt during it's original airing & DVD releases. But more recently they got censored for reairing on other channels. Which for me at least took away from the overall appeal. In fact seeing a little piece of their episodes on TV. You will notice American Horror Story is standing out a little bit more.

Do I even need to dress the elephant in the room? The final season of Tales from the Crypt is such a major lay down. The previous six seasons are amazing that are all filled with timeless classics. I am not here to insult any British actors & actresses that appear during that season. It simply wasn't their fault for being so bad. You can tell the team had a difficult team making their new location work.

Before anyone gets the wrong idea? I really enjoy both of these shows with a big passion. After you see most of their episodes & take a serious time thinking about which is better. Chances are you probably end up with my conclusion. If you actually prefer Tales from the Crypt over American Horror Story. I'm fine with that as long you don't act up on my blog like a baby.

Out of pure respect The Crypt Keeper is easily one of my favorite horror anthology characters ever. No body comes close to how awesome that ghoul is. Being undead allows him to survive even the worst of punishments. One interesting fact that not many people know. If you look closely at The Crypt Keeper's face. If you ever wondered why it looks similar to Chucky from Child's Play series.

Parts of his face came from extra pieces for Chucky. This includes the eyes & cheeks with his smile making it very obvious. I got a lot of love to hate characters on both shows. OMG Twisty the Clown stands out in such a huge way. Sure he isn't as important to the plot as other characters. A few years before clowns protested Pennywise in the new IT movie.

They protested American Horror Story over Twisty the Clown. Now that by itself is mind blowing even before they aired the first episode of season 4. Controversial is a funny thing because the more upset people get by it. The more some people will want it, Twisty is no exception to that. I am not openly supporting such a topic in favor of Twisty.

My point is you would be surprised who you may like in every season. I will be honest I don't like many characters in Tales from the Crypt. I felt American Horror Story simply has better written characters. I am aware I'm comparing comic book characters to original ones. The fact American Horror Story can make villains stand out more than any on the other show.

You know you are watching a better horror anthology show. I will say Tales from the Crypt has one of my personal favorite intros to any horror shows. I do prefer American Horror Story theme although not every season plays it. These are the very things that kept me going more towards American Horror Story.

The Winner is American Horror Story