Zombieland

In many ways Zombieland is like the American Shaun Of The Dead. It's bigger, louder, swearier and instead of going to the pub they go to a theme park. Americans eh? For me though it's what happens when you make a film that is a mixture of zany Japanese photo em up Dead Rising and the frantic, manic, unadulterated joy of Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead Rising: The Movie if you will. It's also cleverer than that sounds though, with some real wit hidden away in the movie, particularly in a bizarre scenario set in Bill Murray's house. The characters are as wafer thin as you'd expect and the plot hardly revolutionary. In fact the plot is pretty much that of a romantic comedy. Only with more zombies. But with nods to The Zombie Survival Guide in a rules system, a score that at times hinted at those oh so worrying strings of an impending zombie stampede in Left 4 Dead and even a few shots of a moving roller coaster car that reminded me of those very common mine cart sequences you used to get in Resident Evil. Anyway, regardless of it's originality it's easily the second best zomb-com going. Unless you're counting Dawn Of The Dead for unintentional comedy. But less not confuse it anymore. Good fun indeed.

Left 4 Dead (NES Version)

I imagine readers of Eurogamer or Kotaku would have already seen about a guy called Eric Ruth's unofficial NES inspired port of Left 4 Dead (link here). Once you get over the initial "Look how cute they are! Awww, look at the little boomers!" style fawning, there's a fun little game there. Although they'll be plenty of fawning. From the midi file music covers to the title screen there's plenty to smile about. I'm pretty terrible though, only managed to get as far as halfway to the second safe room. Never was very good at the old top down shooter.

Anyway, I saw that the game was made in a little program called Game Maker (link here) which made me wonder if I could have a go. So I downloaded it and had a go at the tutorial. Seemed simple enough. Then our internet and TV went down for about 8 hours so I felt fate was telling me to make something and make something I did. I give you Kris Akabusi's Health Munch.

Various Titbits #5

Been a busy week for for me, culminating in my last shift of the week in a couple of hours now. I'm officially nocturnal now, before I dabbled in insomnia. Occasionally not reaching slumber until the harsh rays of light and audible stumble of approaching school children (I live near a school, not by choice of course. Coincidence I assure you.). Anywho this leaves me with very little time for my usual habits of films and the like, but as ever I made time.

So cinematically speaking very little has happened. I did however get to re-watch Batman Begins last Sunday for the first time since I saw it at the multiplex. It seems strange that a film released about 5 years ago is only just having it's network premiere. I remember as a kid that network premieres were the most exciting thing about television. Another reason why Christmas was a magical time of year, Mum and Dad hadn't taken you to the cinema to see the film when it came out and now its on at 2pm on Boxing Day. Hurrah! But anyway, the film is better than I remember it being. Although there is no Ledger show-stopping performances there is just one long blockbuster that entertains from start to finish. Also making The Scarecrow scary is an achievement in itself. I always remember him being a bit lame in the cartoon but in the film he's realised as an element of true psychological horror. Something they also took to Arkham Asylum. Seemingly Batman can do no wrong these days. Here's hoping they do get round to making a third, even if The Dark Knight is going to be almost impossible to top I'm sure the Nolan brothers will conjure up a story which clamber near those dizzy heights.

I've also been watching a fair bit of TV but nothing out of the ordinary. All I will say is I'm very thankful for the BBC's comedic output. Something good to watch almost every night before work on the iPlayer. Still, saving True Blood and Misfits for the weekend. Going to get home at 12 today after my shift, whack on Score and have a few beers. Then start the catch up. Good times. I have also progressed quite far in Borderlands. I do find myself getting a little bored with the quests, lots of fetching and shooting and the like. Unfortunately no-one on my friends list is playing it or even owns it by the look of it and I don't really fancy diving in to the pre-pubescent, expletive ridden land of Xbox Live alone. Oh well, sparing plays for short periods have made this less of a worry but I can't help but feel I'm missing out on the majority of the fun of the game. If it's anything like that seen in Left 4 Dead its probably going to be a fair whack of it. Right best be off, got to make a sandwich for work. Now that I live in GMT+13. So I imagine this is what its like to be Russian, starting your day when everyone else has finished theirs. How very depressing.

Gaming Tuesday (On Wednesday)

Been a quiet week's gaming for me this week. Which is not a common occurence for me, I'd go as far as saying its been under 10 hours. Which more says how much I usually squeeze into the average week. Anyway, did manage to finish ODST in that amount of time though. Which goes some way to agree with most people's sentiment that's been floating round the net. It really is too short. Although the single player is still fantastic. Its usual Halo fare, only this time from a different angle. Kind of like re-watching your favourite film to show it to a friend, they see all the little things that you take for granted in your repeated viewings. I'm aware of the stretching on that metaphor but the point is there. Playing as an ODST feels so similar to the old MC yet so different. There's the health packs although if you're good enough you won't lose your shields and you can't dual wield but I personally stopped that after Halo 2 anyway. In many ways its just a greatest hits of Halo set-pieces but who wouldn't want that? A fool that's who. Multiplayer wise Firefight is awesome, although no match-making (!) and also if you didn't already have the maps, you'd be in luck with the bonus disc. Still, its managed to distract me from Riddick (which I feel I have to complete before I can return it to get Arkham Asylum) so that counts as a thumbs up for me.

Probably a good job I posted this today as yesterday saw the release of that knee jerk piece of DLC for Left 4 Dead. Crash Course is only two chapters long (albeit action packed) for a start. This is for shortened games of Versus apparently, which I believe although I haven't got round to playing it on that mode yet. I tried to play through it online with whoever Live paired me up with. This proved a bad idea when none of us knew where we going and spent 10 minutes wandering round the the same area looking for the way through. Twice. We then got slaughtered at the finale, I can proudly say I was the last to die though. For the price of 560 points (just over £4) I'm happy to get more Left 4 Dead as its easily one of the games of the generation. Here's hoping Left 4 Dead 2 can carry on the trend.

Gaming Tuesday

Had about a month away from the 360 so came back quite excited about gaming. Especially as I thought Swapgame were going to send me Batman Arkham Asylum. But, alas, on my doorstep was Chronicles Of Riddick. I gave it a few spins, playing through the original Butcher Bay game. Quite enjoyable in fact, although doing mini missions in the prison was a chore. The game does give a good sense of tension, lingering in the shadows, doing a quick neck-break and then hiding in a corner palpitating as some massive robot juggernaut wanders around blindly calling your name. I haven't finished Butcher Bay, but I have a feeling I'm about three quarters of the way through. Still got the extra Dark Athena game to go through yet but so far it's a good laugh. I'll make sure I take my time over it.

Apart from that I've squeezed in a few rounds of Left 4 Dead, still as great fun as when I first picked it up. Which was around 9 months ago I think? Crazy. Fair bit of Fifa 09 as well, although I rarely dabble online in that. My concentration can never last the full 90 minutes and I'll roll the ball out to their oncoming striker gifting victory. I prefer just playing alone, at least the AI isn't as wise to these mistakes. Picked up ODST at midnight launch as well. Got my Sgt. Johnson character pre-order and all. Haven't had much time with it but gave Firefight a roll with my brother and I was suitably impressed. Although no matchmaking for it? Seems a missed opportunity. The single player is good too, great soundtrack so far. Very eerie. Probably finish it up before next week and get a full idea of it but so far I'm impressed. Although I feel a little bit short-changed for £34.99. Maybe a little gift for those of us who had already splashed out on the Mythic map pack? Na, its Microsoft isn't it.