The Walking Dead (Game review)

I cannot express to you all how much I love The Walking Dead game. This is really what survival horror fans have been waiting for!

The game plays a lot like a point and click PC game. You make decisions that hinder the outcome of your game. But what I like most about this game is that it comes out once a month and is about $5 an episode. Think of it as an interactive choose your own adventure Walking Dead comic book issue with you taking the reigns! (Say that five times fast)
You play as Lee, a middle aged African american male with a foggy past. He eventually runs into a little girl named Clementine who has no one to protect her. It is up to you to get her through this sick and twisted world festering with confused citizens, blood thirsty camps and oh yeah, THE UNDEAD.

One of the things I enjoy most about this game is that your actions and choices actually matter. And I don't mean Mass Effect matter where Bioware still pushes you to the main objective. I mean if you tell someone to shoot someone else, they die and are no longer in your party. The survivors in your camp now look at you strange and no longer trust you as much. The art style is ripped right form the pages of Robert Kirkman's comic book series and is brought to life. You can feel when a character is staring you down. Almost as if you're The Governor and Michonne is about to make you her bitch. Characters, actions, consequences. They all feel very real in this rather then the soap opera television series.

One scene in particular I enjoyed (and I will try and keep this as spoiler free as I can)...
It's raining down hard and a captor has one of your members from the camp hostage with a gun to her head. Everything is in real time and you are free to move around. They both reside in a old house with little power. The captor is yelling at you "You have ruined everything! Things did not have to go this way!" at the same time you hear your friend pleading for her life. The closer you move towards the two, the more they move back up the stairs. Lighting is crashing down and it's the only real light you get to really see around you. The moonlight through the window also shines little light making everything a silhouette.
Right as you are about to give up talking down the captor, a walker attacks from behind the two tearing into her flesh. Now you find yourself running hand in hand for your lives as you hear screams form behind. This is all with no huds on making it almost feel as if you are watching a horror film.

Issue #100 of The Walking Dead releases this week. I've been looking forward to this issue for quite some time now. But I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm looking forward to Episode III of the game just a tad bit more.

Home is where the heart was left in a cooler..

Got the time off approved to fly home to Pittsburgh. Haven't been back in quite a while. The Monroeville Mall, The Evans City Cemetery and a Pirates game are on my visit list along with a stop at Hofbräuhaus for some fine German beer!!! I may also see The Dark Knight in the city it was filmed in...GOTHAM! I've miss the ol' burgh.

Cold dark and grey

Just sent my resume in to work on a show about video gaming. Think The Suite Life of Zach and Cody meets Grandmas Boy. It films over the next three months for Disney at the studio which is perfect for me since special events has slowed down at the park.

 The scary thing about sending in my resume is that I have not done a lot of film and tv work. It's all been live productions. Sure I've worked on films FOR the live productions and music videos here and there but it's nothing too impressive. I want to get my foot in the door doing gaffing work but it's hard when I have little studio experience. I'm hoping this is my big break in doing more gaffing gigs here in O-town. Wish me luck!

Piranha 3DD sinks to the bottom

I loved Alex Aja's remake of the Roger Corman classic killer fish tale, so I had no doubt in my mind that Piranha DOUBLE D would knock me off my jet ski. Well not only did I get knocked off, but I fell on concrete! The first one is so much better on every level. This one is actually pretty embarrassing to watch. I was disappointed in this sequel in almost every way. No fun deaths, the fun cameos overstayed their welcome, the writing was done by a nine year old. I mean I don't expect a masterpiece about killer fish. Just up the fun for your sequel! It reminded me of Hangover 2 compared to the first Hangover. You have seen all this already and want something more but John Gulager (director of FEAST) delivers less. WAY less. It's not looking good for horror this summer at the box office. Both Piranha 3DD and Chernobyl Diaries are tanking. Anyone have a lifesaver?

An E-mail I received this morning

"Also saw Cabin in the Woods. Mom and I didn't like it. Was different. Started out as Your typical teen slasher flick , The puppet masters institute, running the show was a bit much. Just wished I saw it on cable or dvd. Not worth $20 bucks. The Three Stooges was ten times better......" -Dad


Ouch.

Goodbye old friend

So this is an update I wish I did not have to make. It looks like after six spooky, scary, cranked up to eleven years singing for the my band Sharkteeth I'm hanging up the mic and the band is going it's separate ways. It has been an amazing six years with the band and showing you all what I love to do. Entertain you all with some of the best horror rock out there and give you something more at a show then just a band on a stage. From Wolfman masks to shitty CD battles to broken tombstones and jack o' lanterns covered in beer. I have so many good memories, and those are the ones that I will keep. Will I be involved in music again? You bet! Something a bit different I think you all will like. Until then, thank you everyone who supported us at shows or bought a record! We did it for you. Stay scary!

A lonely sleigh ride

Working at Universal, holidays come and go like daily meals. Most just trudge through the seasons not really caring. "It's just a job" most of them say. Even though I'm 26 in my own home, I still want to enjoy the holidays. Halloween made a huge impact in my lifestyle (most cannot say that.) As a kid my father showed me monster movies and took me trick or treating. It taught me that if the world can be scary for a month, why can't it be scary all year round? I never stopped loving Samhain and I now pretty much experience it 365 days a year, so that's the 4-1-1 on my favorite holiday.

This doesn't mean I dislike Christmas in the least. In fact I love it! Though it is true that the holiday season is a lot more fun when you have someone by your side. I can remember taking past girl friends out window shopping and going to winter parades and festivals. These past few years I have not been so lucky with the ladies. The only reason my holiday spirit was up so high last year was due to my old roommate Pez. This was her holiday and she made sure to help me out with anything possibly Christmas related around the house. Well girl and guy roommates are totally different! It seems like I'm the only person in the house this year that really cares. And that's fine. The Christmas season isn't for everyone and I totally get that. It's just kind of lonely I guess.

So I throw a Christmas gathering every year to kind of bring that joy and warm feeling to a lot of my friends who work nonstop and are kind of stuck in their own world. Scary horror movies and monsters aside, I'm a very kind hearted person who enjoys dressing descent, smooth jazz and a nice glass of chardonnay. I just like to break the basic Keenan mold every once and a while.

Why do I keep doing this? Why do I put tons of Christmas lights on the house, decorate the tree next to the fire and buy presents every year even though I'm getting older and should be enjoying my bachelor life style? I really think it has to do with wanting a mini Keenan. I want to keep the spirit alive for my future son or daughter. I couldn't imagine being in a family that didn't celebrate a joyful and fun holiday like Christmas. So I guess you could say you all are my children at this years party until I acquire one for myself, haha! But really, I just want experience these months through my child's eyes. I think this would uplift my spirits and remind me that this is what the holidays are for.


Here are a few pictures form past Christmas gatherings: