The combination might seem more than a bit awkward at first, but I think I've found a title that combines both series perfectly. And while, objectively, it's more of a "Matrix done right" than anything like Silent Hill, the series in question somehow felt much closer to Silent Hill 2 than anything I've previously seen.

I'm talking about Serial Experiments Lain (don't ask me what the title means, because I have no idea). It's a 13-episode anime series from 1998, which tells a story of a young girl called Lain. At first the story is very similar to the one of Matrix, minus kung-fu and gravity-defying stunts. Nothing surprising, considering Lain's constitution. However, the series quickly delves into the inner world of its lead character, whose journey into the Wired (a mix between Internet and Matrix) becomes quite similar to James' journey into Silent Hill. Somehow, Lain is also very similar to James, with both of them unwilling to accept something they know is true. In the later episodes, reality is twisted in a way that allows the use of some impressive and surrealistic psychological horror elements. And that sure is lovely, don't you think?

Overall, I think the series was definitely one of the best serious titles I've ever seen, anime or not. If you like sci-fi and psychological horror and don't mind the complete absence of light-hearted elements, you should definitely give it a try.

As some of you may have noticed, I haven't updated my blog for a while. A month, maybe? Anyway, I've had some personal reasons not to be very active, and have been pretty busy with my job, too. My studies start in two weeks, though, and I'm pretty sure I'll have to abandon my job and get more spare time to spend.

I've had some other things to do that just rot and work. First of all, I've watched Slayers. All episodes. In case you don't know, it's an anime parody series... that has 78 episodes and three seasons. I haven't had such good laughs for a long time. And haven't wasted so much time on one single thing, either :D

Other than that, after beating the most advanced AI of Age of Wonders 2 in a 1 vs 7 I realised I have to find something else to do. So I took my copy of GTA: San Andreas from a shelf and continued playing it. I still find it pretty boring compared to Vice City, but whatever. At least now I have something to do.

I also tried playing Manhunt. That game just sucked. I can't believe what a fuss they created over a mediocre stealth action game that looks awful and plays even worse. However, that game doesbring up one interesting question. What the hell is wrong with today's society?! Can you really get so much cheap popularity by showing people getting stabbed in their eyes? And now they have that Manhunt 2 scandal. I bet Rockstar did it on purpose...

And, finally, I've updated my CD collection. As some of you may know by now, I'm a huge fan of grunge music. Now I've got every single CD of Nirvana. That's in addition to a full collection of Soundgarden's CDs. Next is Screaming Trees. Too bad their discs are so hard to get hold of...

Today I read the GS preview of Witcher, and holy cow that game looks like it's going to be the first good CRPG to come out in years. I just hope that the freedom of choice presented in it will be different enough from the "you can kill him with a sword or an axe" present in "RPGs" like Oblivion.

I've also read other great news. Majesty 2 is coming. Even better, it's being made by Paradox. The 1% who have played the original Majesty will probably backflip right away, as for the others... oh well, let's just say that it wasn't a game you can easily forget. I'm glad that a capable studio will make the sequel.

I'm going to Denmark tomorrow. Will be back in two weeks. No Internet there, so I guess GS will have to survive without my marvelous personality for a while :D

So, I got those new emblems... they say I'm helluva old-school AND an outlier! Ain't that great? I guess I was asking for it when I put Marathon in my collection and gave Oblivion and F.E.A.R. 8s, but still :P

It's pretty funny. I had a PC aficionado emblem for a while, but it kept disappearing and reappearing. Now I got those two instead of it. Well, fine, but I'm only adding games into my collection of PC titles, so why did the aficionado thing disappear? Weird. I wonder how they decide that stuff.

Well, moving to more interesting things, the demo of Overlord came out. I downloaded it, and guess what? The file was corrupted. And it was 1.1 gigabytes! I guess I'll have to play it tomorrow, then. Can't wait to get my hands on it! I WANT TO KILL PUNY VILLAGERS! *evil laughter*

I've watched Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and it sucked so hard it was funny. It had Jill Valentine, the master of lockpicking and jill sandwiches, dozens of zombies and Milla Jovovitch alias Superwoman. With the first movie being pretty decent, I was surprised they screwed everything up so loyally this time. I also wanted to go watch At the World's End, but I don't want to go alone, all of my friends don't want to go anywhere and my girlfriend hasn't seen the second movie! She hasn't seen Pulp Fiction, either. She really needs more... cultural education :D

First, let me confess something:

I LUV LUV LUV LUV LUV LUV LUV LUV LUV turn-based games!

Now, to the point:

I got Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic two days ago. Since then, I haven't been able not to play it. That game is just absolutely fantastic! At the first glance it's just an ordinary standalone expansion pack for Age of Wonders 2, but they've changed so many things that game has become two times better! There were 12 races already, and with the new three races, customizable magic, a new dimension and some new units and spells the gameplay has changed pretty radically. That's what you call a perfect expansion pack.

It proves the TBS games genre isn't dead, as some may want you to believe. Moving units in Shadow Magic is more exciting than in most RTs. Well, maybe not quite as exciting as in Dawn of War, but you get the point.

*takes some AntiFanboy pills*

Hmm, I guess I can end the rant now. I'm considering buying Civilization 4. The third part refused to work properly, so I still haven't played what some call the best TB series out there.

I've also watched Blade Runner. The movie wasn't quite as good as the book, but it sure was something special. I didn't they could produce FX of that quality in the 80s. Guess I was wrong. I needed to watch a good movie after Bloodrayne :D

Crappy acting... checked. Awful story... checked. Lots of like GORE and BOOBS... checked. Has nothing to do with the original... checked.

Oh yes, almost forgot: vampires! Ok, checked.

If you haven't guessed it already, this is probably the design document of Bloodrayne, Uwe Boll's latest comedy.

The movie starts as some circus folk torture Rayne in public, because she's a "freak" and regenerates. Yeah, right. By watching the movie for 15 minutes longer you'll soon understand that every third person in the movie is a vampire, and the Brimstone Society consists of several hundreds of people. So... well, I guess circus people are just extremely stupid, right? They don't know that if she regenerates, she's vampire?

Yes, that explains why Rayne, even though she should fear the Sun, and even takes cover from it from time to time, can walk in broad daylight! And why another vampire, who obviously has no reason not to fear sunlight, either, can do the same thing! And why the Ultimate Bad Dude Kagan sounds so bored for half of the movie! Clowns like Mr. Boll are stupid, too.

Now, concerning the actors. Look at this picture:

You could title it "Bored" or "Give me my freaking money already".

Argh, even the story was awful. I looks like Uwe Boll doesn't understand what the word "parody" means. Because the Bloodrayne games were just that, and very good at it, too. The movie tries to bring some drama into the plot. Need I say the result is funny, but, this time, unintentionally?

At least I had a good laugh. Can't wait to see how bad the Bloodrayne western will be :D

I've read an interview about Jagged Alliance 3 in a Russian mag. It looks pretty promising, although there's not a whole lot of info available. Yet. Here is the most important stuff:

- There will be 4 factions

- The game will have missions, no conquering/defending areas

- Some old mercs will be back

- An improved version of the Silent Storm engine will be used

- The team consists of Nival (Silent Storm), G5 (a small studio IMO, have made some crappy games) and Akella (Pirates of the Caribbean) members

- Currently the game looks like a mix of Fallout and Jagged Alliance 2

- Some maps are ready and everything looks cool when it blows up

- The game will take place in South America

You can find the original article and some screenshots here .

I thought I'd never witness it, really. But I suppose everyone makes mistakes, and I'm glad I was wrong. The GS review was surprisingly positive, too. 8.5 without a big company behind that game!

 

Damn, why didn't I preorder? I guess it's better this way. I remember what happened when I got System Shock 2, and I don't want that now, during my final exams :D

Yesterday I bought both Spellforce: Breath of Winter/Order of Dawn and Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars. While Breath of Winter was just a solid RPG/RTS mix with an interesting story (well, so far), Shadow Wars was a shock. I'm wondering if someone snuck into my room at night and performed a secret upgrade, because that can't possibly be a product of my system!

Other than that, I've found out what's the funnest multiplayer game out there. It's Giants: Citizen Kabuto. Nothing beats running around as a huge mix of a monkey and an elephant and eating those tiny enemies of yours. Too bad you can't find anyone to play with these days. I'm happy LAN exists for those who want a total NoLife (TM) experience.

I've loved all Triumph Studios' games and their new title, although a bit weird, looks quite fascinating, too. The game is called Overlord and is a fantasy postapocalyptic action/RPG with... pets. It looks like they will function as little helpers that will collect all the items and help you in combat. Knowing how well-done and artistic Triumph's previous games (Age of Wonders I & II) were, I guess... I hope this combination of pets, swords and fireballs will work.

Triumph's website

Overlord at Gamespot's E3 Awards (Best Surprise 2006)