SubwayD

It's looking like Gravity Rush 2. Loved the first game so much on the Vita, this is the one that's pushing me to get a damn PS4 Pro.

Man, they filed the original Clone Wars animated series under Legends? Not that I should be bothered too much about canon, but it still stings a bit. Like when Disney washed their hands of KotOR.

Heh. Probably one of the better things to come out of the hot mess of the prequels.

A sort of top-ten:

• Darkher - Realms
• Spektr - The Art to Disappear
• THYX - Headless
• Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
• Assemblage 23 - Endure
• Inquisition - Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith
• King Goat - Conduit
• Twilight Force - Heroes of Mighty Magic
• Mistur - In Memoriam
• Anaal Nathrakh - The Whole of the Law

Yeah, I'd say that's some real cool music.

This is a list!

	1. Doom This is it. There have been many games over the past decades that have claimed to capture the spirit of the original. It doesn't matter now. From top to bottom, this is the true modern successor to Doom's Legacy. I knew it was going to be special. The only surprise here was how far it exceeded my expectations. As the chaos mounts and the forces of hell swarm upon me, I know I can maintain control of the situation. So long as the bullets keep flying, the blood continues to pour and I just. Keep. Moving!
	2. Titanfall 2 Excellent, creative single player with an addictive multiplayer that had me hooked. Damn good!
	3. Inside Bleak puzzle platformer. Amazing look and vibe that goes places.
	4. Hitman Nobody was talking about the Hitman game following up the less than impressive Absolution and it's seemingly cynical Episodic approach. Turns out it's the best the series has ever been and splitting into episodes was actually a great move. Consider me surprised!
	6. Stories: The Path of Destinies Delightful little chose-you-own-adventure ARPG-lite. Far more enjoyable than the sum of it's parts.
	5. Quantum Break They don't make epic narrative third person shooters like this any more. And I doubt they will again.
	7. Overwatch Never been a big fan of multiplayer games, but the sheer charm won me over.
	8. Forza Horizon 3 A perfect balance of arcade and sim. Captures the joys of driving wonderfully while sending you off to gorgeous locations.
	9. Rhythm Heaven Megamix Excellent music and rhythmic button pressing! Recaptures at least some of the undying love I have for the GBA game. Wub-a-dubba-dubba-that true?
	10. Pony Island Endless Runner that's literally from hell. Light gameplay and puzzles tied together by narrative which continuously spirals out of control. (Should have put Super Hot in here, but I'd rather promote this game.)

Got two old games of the year.

• Rondo of Blood - started playing after watching VinnyVainia. Was annoyed that they didn't 100% the game, I went and did it myself. Good times.
• Dungeons 2 - Wanted to play a dungeon management game in the old Keeper style. It sounded like this was the better of the two. And it was, in fact, rather good indeed, questionable sense of humour aside. Finally got around to giving War for the Overworld a shot recently. It felt like a soulless attempt to make copy the games that inspired it. Made the right choice there.

Not a particularly exciting selection, I know. Still continue to hang about in the Undertale fan scene, so there's that as well.

Titanfall 2 with it's diversity and creativity certainly puts it way up there in the pantheon of recent FPS campaigns.

But Doom, man. They nailed every aspect of it. That sense of everything being on the brink of chaos, and that I'd be able to keep on top of it so long as I could just moving and shooting. Utter white knuckle challenge that's only further amplified by the music and visuals.

Not just the best of the year, but in the running for best of the decade!

Depends on how much collecting you want to do for your money. You can amass a nice pile of Mega Drive stuff and hardware for not too much. Dreamcast games and hardware, on the other hand, costs a bomb unless you just want to pick up the shovel ware games. Plus the odds of finding a working DC are getting slimmer and slimmer whereas MDs are going strong to this day.

Heh. I've been lamenting the loss of my own Dreamcast for a while now. Been meaning to get back into it but man, I don't have the kind of money needed to build up a worthwhile collection.

VR is only really for rich tech guys at the moment. I'm sure there are more than enough of them willing to shake out some of their spare change and fund this.

A summery of the horror movies I've watched this month:

The Hills Have Eyes (2006) [3/5]

Won't defend it as a classic, but as a 2000s-ass horror move and a good old fashioned killer-hillbilly romp, it's enjoyable. Just wish it was a bit more consistent with it's tone. Seemed like it couldn't decide between French Extreme or being a wacky mutant bash, leaving you with a film that doesn't seem to know if it has a sense of humour or not.

Event Horizon [4/5]

The film sampled by 100 Electro/metal bands! It's not perfect, but, man, it certainly goes all in! The whole nightmares from the warp is some straight-up Warhammer 40K shit. You could also mention Doom and Lovecraft references, and you kind of get an idea why this film kicks more ass than the sum of it's parts.

Splinter [2.5/5]

I was sold on the descriptions of "Dead Space meets The Mist" and "Evil Dead meets The Thing" - What I got was "Shaky Cam meets The Budget".

It has it's moments and a few good nods to weird practical effects. It's just that the editing and camera work is so shaky and choppy that it undermines the cool things the film is doing, instead making it feel lazy, unconvincing and ultimately failing to deliver many thrills and/or chills.

30 Days of Night [2/5]

Interesting premise and a small handful of cool moments can't save the movie. Not sure how best to articulate my issues with it, but the film just handled the concept "wrong". There was no survival elements to the film, you know? It never felt like they had to hide for 30 days. If anything, it could have taken place over one night and the film would not have felt any different.

Slither [4/5]

Had a great time. Felt like the modern equivalent of a Peter Jackson's old splatter movies. Watching it again after seeing Guardians of the Galaxy, I'm amazed James Gunn managed to make a massive budget comic book movie feel like one of his own.

Return of the Living Dead [3.5/5]

Eighties punk-rock zombies! Roughly made in spots, but I still laughed like an idiot throughout. And, man, people sure do shout.

The Addams Family [3/5]

Early nineties gothic whimsy! I don't have the nostalgia for the show or the comics, so I think that it might have been a little lost on me, but the look and feel was more than enough to carry me through.

House on Haunted Hill [3/5]

A guilty pleasure of mine. Saw it at the right time at the right age for it to leave a positive impression on me. Dumb, excessive nineties horror that more or less follows the same "Louder/More Violent = Scary!" mantra Event Horizon did.

28 Weeks Later [2.5/5]

Gets an extra star for the amazing opening sequence and the closing shot. The rest of the movie was just... not very good. I'm not usually one to criticise a film for being preposterous if it can make an argument for it. This film just swung all over the place.

The Thing [5/5]

What can I say? It remains a classic.

Cabin in the Woods [5/5]

A recent favourite of mine. Been watching it this time nearly every year since it came out. Was tempted to ding it .5 for feeling a little patchy in spots, but that third act chaos more than makes up for it.

Bonus Round!

Watched Bone Tomahawk, The VVitch and Green Room (4/5, 4.5/5 and 3.5/5 respectively) late last month, so they fall just short of being included in the Halloween themed spookings.

On the OST, I believe the track is called Harbinger?

I'll admit, it's a bit odd coming to this release after getting accustomed to the game rips on youtube. :o

Oh! And Bethesda has uploaded the whole thing to youtube in a single video, for your compressed listening pleasure.