Murdered: Soul Suspect; The Vanishing of Ethan Carter; Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Summer is a notoriously quiet time for console gaming, and gaming in general. As such, I took the opportunity during August to try out three games I might not have sampled otherwise.

Murdered: Soul Suspect was a spurious £10 online purchase sometime earlier this year. Its release was tame, reviews were middling, but the concept and premise were at least intriguing; essentially a ghost cop investigating his own murder. If he doesn't solve the mystery, he can't join his (also-) late wife beyond.

Published by Square Enix, and developed by Airtight Games (not AAA developers by any stretch), it's lacking in every department, but it shows enough promise and intrigue to at least hide some of its problems. The camera controls are quite frankly awful, and often put me in direct danger when encountering the game's enemies, Demons. The graphics feel like mid-gen PS3/360 standard, and the presentation and voice acting just feels cheap. The £10 price tag was an early hint.

The reason I've decided to write about this game is because although the gameplay mechanics are undercooked, Murdered: Soul Suspect is familiar to the other games I played this Summer, if only in terms of premise.

Murdered presents a kind of interface through wispy, ghostly swirls emanating throughout the environment, which basically act as beacons for garnering for information in relation to the murder investigation. This presentation is echoed in The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, developed and published by The Astronauts.

Ethan Carter is, as recently penned in line with the release of titles like Gone Home, a walking simulator. It's a game where you can walk or walk quickly, interact with one button and crouch with another. There's little more to it than that, and the game involves the investigation of its titular character, a young boy, whose fate is revealed at the end of the game, but its presentation is arguably the most significant aspect.

The main mechanic involves searching for clues; severed legs, bits of rope, rocks, all of which are encased in a strange ghostly aura, and with every clue you find, you unveil a flashback of exactly what happened to the victim in each case. There are six or seven victims in the game, and unless you find every item related to that investigation, you won't unlock what actually happened. For a game that doesn't exactly hold your hand (it says those very words at the beginning of the game itself), this can often be frustrating.

The mechanics of these investigations is very straightforward, however, in spite of the difficulty that comes with actually locating these clues, and the game looks and sounds great. In fact, the art style and look of the surroundings - in particular some of the buildings you are required to explore - is incredible, and would be welcome in most adventure games. As various message boards will attain, the ending was divisive for many, and confusing for everyone else. I won't spoil it, of course, but it's an ending some Hollywood films go for, sometimes purely because they're not sure how else to end it.

Which brings us on to Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, an August release on PS4, from the makers of Dear Esther, a PC-only game about dealing with loss. 'Rapture, albeit another "walking simulator", is a unique game, and in fact it left a lasting impression on me, for numerous reasons.

The game has you wandering a small village in Shropshire, a place left deserted by everyone, with seemingly no explanation immediately obvious. Once again, there is no hand holding other than a few wispy golden orbs that move about the world - seemingly at random, on first glance - and hint as to which direction you should head towards. There are old fashioned radios lying around the place, as well as various forms of telephones, their static signals and ringing sounds respectively giving you further hints as to where to go, in addition to narrative guidance.

The story of Rapture essentially involves a mysterious outbreak within the village, a pair of couples, an observatory and a grieving farm owner to name but one additional storyline element. Their stories are told piecemeal in the form of spiralling golden auras - no faces or figures are actually ever seen - that show us how these individuals' lives played out moments, hours and days before the "Rapture" took place. There is an Archers feel to the narrative, especially when it is revealed that one of the partners used to be involved with another villager.

There is very much a small town feel to the game, and the controls are as pedestrian - quite literally, the game's biggest criticism is that movement speed is extremely slow, even when using the 'faster' button - but there is a fascinating trait herein. The sense of isolation, loss and distance thrown at the player is very real, and is not something explored in Murdered or Ethan Carter. That feeling of isolation could be claustrophobic for some, and simply downright eerie for others, especially when accompanied by the game's wonderful soundtrack, which is a combination of choral pieces and beautiful instrumental tracks.

One of the game's biggest feats is that it manages to perfect the image of how British villages look; the attention to detail is second to none, and as someone who's lived in a few villages myself, it's easy to see in that respect. Many would feel like the environment is wasted, and that the ending never begins to justify the game's premise, but as an exercise in exploration - with a wonderful score to match - 'Rapture sure is something else.

Gomorrah

Aired on Sky Atlantic in Autumn 2014, Gomorrah focuses on organised crime within Naples. Based on the film and book of the same name, it follows Genny Savastano as he attempts to retain the dignity of his family name after his Father’s (Don Pietro) shock incarceration, and the implications within the opposing neighbourhoods and factions.

Naturally, comparisons will be made between this and The Sopranos. Although based in New Jersey, the Italian links are prominent, and as with all depictions of the Mafia within the media, it was about the fight for power in the family hierarchy.

Gomorrah has a lot going against it. In a world where The Sopranos rules the roost in terms of televisual organised crime, Gomorrah is broadcast in pure Italian, and although the subtitles help, a lot of people will have been put off the idea of having to pay more attention than they’d like in order to actually understand what’s happening, let alone attempting to further piece together all the other aspects of the show. Elements such as lighting, location, mis en scene and framing of shots are all extremely important in television programmes of this nature, and that is one disadvantage from the get go, for any non-Italian speakers.

Perhaps the show’s biggest problem, for me, is that it seems to treat its first series as one big narrative, rather than simply the beginning of an extended narrative. Perhaps it’s because there was a danger of Sky Italia not guaranteeing a second series (that second series is being filmed as we speak…) and so the writers felt a pressure to end things on a tense but leading finish. The Sopranos was a HBO show, on premium cable, which meant there was very little reliance on ratings to ensure that follow-up seasons happened. As such, although series 1 of Gomorrah delivers on a lot of its early promises, narratively speaking, there isn’t a great deal of character development (beyond, arguably Genny’s transformation), and there isn’t a single character you’d actually root, as opposed to The Sopranos where Tony, the lead, is the epitome of the anti-hero, a man who kills, sleeps around and treats most others like human garbage, yet most of the audience still loves him.

The wonderful thing about premium cable in the United States is that a first season doesn’t need to be a smash hit in order for more seasons to be ordered. DVD sales account for a lot when it comes to the success and financial reward of HBO shows, and obviously other elements of the shows are allowed to be relaxed, owing to its age classifications.

It’s hard to properly talk about Gomorrah without spoiling its narrative, much like any show, so it’s best that I leave it as a mere summary. The major consideration for anyone unsure as to the merits herein, is that every single person in this fictional universe, is cold-blooded. That isn’t something you could say about its Western counterpart, a show where Tony’s sidekicks provided some much needed colour and humour. Gomorrah is bleak, and it presents Naples as a grim, dark, murky place to live, work and operate. It’s an unapologetically terrifying, and that will appeal to many.

Just Before I Go

Courteney Cox's directorial debut (and, may I suggest, hopefully her last) is a bizarre mixture of frat-boy 'humour' and well-meaning introspection.

Seann William Scott stars as 41 year old Ted, a pet supply store manager, who decides to postpone committing suicide so that he can visit his hometown one last time, and provide closure on the people he grew up with.

As you'd imagine, there is a romantic story arc involved. Ted, upon tracking down the teacher who used to torment and bully him, discovers that not only is that same teacher now deaf and oblivious to his 'revenge' rant, but her granddaughter is a rather attractive young lady who he begins to take a shine towards.

That is merely one aspect of the narrative, and it's surprisingly low-key, and handled rather well. The rest of the film is where it all falls apart.

Garrett Dillahunt (of Justified fame, and many other things) plays Ted's brother, Lucky, with whom he stays for the duration of the film. Through him, we are introduced to his wife, Kathleen, who through clear frustration at the state of her marriage, demonstrates what we're later reliably informed is commonly performed for visiting men, by way of 'sleepwalking masturbation'. This is basically the tip of the iceberg, but aptly sums up what is wrong with the film. Although there is clearly trouble within that marriage, the way Kathleen is presented is crass, inappropriate and just the most unsubtle way of presenting what is actually a very common, and quite serious issue for many.

On a par with Ted's own suicidal intentions, is the story of Ted's nephew, Zeke (played by Kyle Gallner) who is also suffering. Owing to social pressures, especially from his friends at school and fearing the reaction of a staunchly 'macho' father, he is unable to reveal to anyone that he is gay. As a result of this, and also to cover his own insecurities, he bullies his boyfriend Romeo, who himself is openly gay.

The way the film addresses the highly sensitive nature of suicide and homosexuality is, at times, highly commendable, in so far as the writing successfully highlights how torturous both topics can be for those who live them on a daily basis. However, there are interactions later on in the film which make you question the agenda of those involved in the making of the film.

One scene in particular has Ted pouring his heart out about his own experiences, revealing how much pain and confusion he's going through, all the while the camera frames it so the audience is treated to a boner gag, helpfully sending up the fact that Lucky and his partner from work - he's a cop - are either fucking like bunnies, or really want to. The imagery of the clearly-upset Ted sitting at the table, with a visual sex gag juxtaposed within the same shot, is analogous to the whole film, and sadly sums up the film's inability to sensitively or maturely tackle any of the issues it so brazenly highlights.

It's a mystery as to how a film so bipolar in concept, was penned, but it's an absolute shambles that it was actually made and distributed to audiences around the world, given how it provides so much exposure to these real life, genuine problems, and then shoves equal measure of farce and belligerence right back.

Mad Men Finale

For many, Mad Men will go down in history as being one of the finest dramas on television.

Without doubt, it accomplished something few others quite managed. It somehow combined rich, complex characters, exquisite writing and coherent narratives without ever falling into the trap of needing to portray any real physical angst or violence. It is arguably one of the tamest TV dramas of the modern era, and that it was able to harness such poetic prowess without ever 'resorting' to violence in order to appease premium cable viewers, is perhaps its most impressive feat.

The series centred around the life of Don Draper, a fictional creative director at Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency, in the 1960s. Don is a heavy drinker, a man who doesn't quite understand the meaning of fidelity, and as it turns out, was a con man, having assumed the identity of 'Draper' - a Lieutenant who was killed in front of him during the Korean War - previously known as Dick Whitman.

As it happens, all you really needed to know about Don was that he was a man whose morals were up in the air at the best of times. Constantly sleeping around, always looking at the most superficial of perspectives in life, and never quite cherishing what life was supposedly really about.

The point of this entry is to send Mad Men off in fashion.

As alluded to above, it's a show that, for many, was in the higher echelons of television drama. It was praised for its writing, and although that may in fact be the bone of the contention when it came to its eventual climax, that didn't really negate its impact on cable television, nor indeed on television as a whole.

Naturally I'm not intelligent enough or indeed sufficiently well-versed in television history to give Mad Men the analysis or fanfare that it deserves, but I will address the show's ending.

Season 7 essentially portrayed to the audience what we knew was going to happen all along. Don Draper's life caught up with him. His wife was suffering from cancer, and was going to die within days, weeks or mere months. His daughter, Sally, was growing into a woman who was able to take care of herself, despite displaying traits and characteristics to the contrary, and Don's work life was dissipating. He had ditched his belongings - significant in itself for someone who put so much onus on possessions, and buying the American Dream - and was making his way to a different life. One that removed all emphasis on money, fakeness and superficial flings.

An episode or two before its actual finale, the audience was treated to a brief scene that, for many, would have been the perfect moment on which to end Mad Men as a story. We saw Don give away his car to a younger man - for some, a symbol of passing on his legacy to a pseudo protegé, a man who had earlier tried to actually con him - and sit on a bench, waiting for a bus. To where? No one really cared, as the image itself spoke volumes.

Mad Men's actual ending, however, was more divisive, and saw Don enter a retreat of sorts. Removed of all possessions, and distractions, he comes to envisagea, and supposedly pen, the world-famous "I'd like to give the world a Coke" advert.

For many fans, this felt like a bit of a letdown, as it seemed like Don was finally entering a new journey. Of self discovery, rationale, a clear mind, and above all, a place where he could leave behind the notion of selling commodities to others, let alone himself. However, for many others, it was seen as the perfect ending for a man who had spent an entire career selling the false ideals to the masses, making himself stinking rich in the process.

Alien Isolation 'Review'

Alien Isolation is a very easy game to write about. That is, in part, down to it being the only game I've played for the last two months or so, and also because it's the most memorable game I've played in recent times. And not for the right reasons.

From Wikipedia:

Part of the Alien series, the game is set in 2137, 15 years after the events of Alien and 42 years prior to Aliens. The game follows Amanda Ripley, who is investigating the disappearance of her mother. Amanda is transferred to the space station Sevastopol to find the flight recorder of the Nostromo only to discover an Alien has terrorized the station and killed the vast majority of the crew.

From the off, it is clear that the game will extremely hard, as you only have basic instruments such as a noisemaker, medikit, smoke bomb and other suck distraction items to hand, instead of more useful tools such as a revolver, flamethrower, or shotgun, weapons you get later in the gun and which are directly more effective. Indeed, the aim of the game for the most part, is to actively avoid being detected by everyone. The Alien itself (which actually has a friend at the very end of the game, proving a very real pain in the ass) cannot be killed, and should be engaged with directly. They can only be scared off by blasting the flamethrower at it (again, this is only available about halfway through the game) or distracted by using a noisemaker, or other such tool, and subsequently attempting to sneak beyond them.

The Alien actually isn't even the biggest problem in the game, enemy wise. The Walking Joe, AI synthetics wander various areas of the game, and once they've seen you they won't stop chasing you. They are genuinely frustrating, and in one particular part of the game, they make it extremely difficult to navigate missions that are already made difficult by the presence of the Alien itself. The Walking Joe is somehow made even more of a threat when the game introduces the hazard suit variation, which, unlike its 'normal' brethren, cannot be stunned and thus cannot be easily killed. You have to shoot them in the head with a bottgun instead, a weapon you don't get access to until latter levels.

The final enemy variant is the facehugger, not quite the worst in that you at least get a few seconds to try and get away, but once you see them jump onto you, you're dead. Whereas, with the Alien, you can at least try to evade them and pull of distractions.

Now for the gameplay issues.

Save points are sometimes few and far between, cannot be instantly accessed (player has to wait a few seconds before the actual mechanism engages) and there are often 'hostiles nearby' messages attached to the on-screen prompt, scaring the player that little extra bit right before they're able to even attempt saving their progress, and not losing several minutes of action, which by the way, WILL happen a hell of a lot. There are whole sections of gameplay I lost because of Aliens, Walking Joes or facehuggers literally appearing out of nowhere. It's one of the game's biggest frustrations, and is unfair in every sense.

When you see an Alien from off in the distance, you realise they tend to have generic walking patterns. They'll walk in on direction, then the other, and then they'll scamper back into the vents. And that's fine. But near the endgame, they'll change their patterns. They'll seemingly become random. And that's the scariest bit. Not knowing where the Alien will look or go is genuinely shit-the-bed terrifying, especially if you haven't saved for even a few minutes. The motion tracker - which is supposed to be the most useful tool within the game because it gives you a rough idea of where the Alien is - isn't given to the player until they're about a third of the game in. And even then, its placement of the Alien can be erratic and completely off. The creature can go from being the furthest distance away, to within a metre or so, in the space of about ten seconds. If you're wandering aimlessly near a save point, or hiding space, this is again terrifying.

But these aren't necessarily the biggest issues. When I was finishing off my run through of the game yesterday, finally relieved to be removing it from my 'to play' list and ending a 20+ hour walkthrough, I noticed another frustration. Not even a bug or error, but an intentional addition to the Alien's arsenal of tactics.

The vents in the game are a safe haven for 95% of the game. If you manage to find one, you know you're a few seconds away from not being killed, because the Alien simply doesn't enter them. However, as I learned in a moment of terror and panic, is that in the final section of the game, the Alien will somehow track you down to within mere feet of your location, will locate the vent you're in, and will jump in their and destroy you. At the point, I was almost ready to stop playing the game, simply because of how unprepared I was, how I was led to believe that up till then, the vents were safety, and there was literally nothing tell me otherwise. It was unfair, cruel, it lost me in-game progress, and it just pissed me off.

But that about sums the game up. It is, at times, a very good looking game, and the sense of atmosphere is a constant. As someone who's not a huge fan of the films, I didn't necessarily come to the game looking for nostalgia or familiarity, but the game is well-made for the most part and as someone who looks for horror experiences, this is certainly effective. However, as a frustrating, potentially controller-breaking, irritating and punishing gaming experience, it is almost unapologetically successful.

Belated Shocktober round-up

Back in October of 2014, I ventured on my second consecutive Shocktober session. Shocktober is the basic concept of watching as many horror films in October as possible, because, y'know, Halloween.

Using Patrick Klepek's own list as inspiration, I then went on the hunt for any and all horror films that I hadn't previously seen, sounded interesting, or simply films I hadn't seen for a long time.

The following is the list of horror films I watched for Shocktober 2014:

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (original)
Bad Milo
Evil Dead 1/2
Friday The 13th 2
Nightmare on Elm Street 2
The Honeymoon
Eraserhead
Escape from Tomorrow
The Awakening
Rosemary's Baby
Entity
The Shining
Beneath
Coherence
Rawhead Rex
When A Stranger Calls (remake)
Psycho
Last House on the Left 1972
The Borderlands
The Battery
Fright Night
Wer
1408
House on the Haunted Hill (original)
Dawn of the Dead
Babadook
Ghost Ship
Antichrist
Don't Look Now
Silent Hill
Exists
Aliens
Cabin Fever
Extraterrestrial
ABCs of Death 2
The Signal
Atrocious
Chopping Mall

Best Films of 2014

I realise it's now been a fair while since my last update, and I don't really have a proper reason for that, but hey ho.

The following is a list of my top films of 2014. Not quite a Top Ten as I couldn't quite muster up the effort to actively go back through the list of films I'd seen that year to see if I'd missed any.

Fault In Our Stars
Boyhood
What If
Lets Be Cops
Babadook
Extraterrestrial
The Signal
The Guest
Two Night Stand

I'm sure there are plenty of film I've missed off this list, and I imagine a quick wikipedia search will jog my memory, but this is my 'top of my head' recollection.

Enjoy.