Season One

Stranger Things: Season 1 Review

/ Detached / 2 Comments

strangerthingsthumbjpg-6ab191_1280w

Did you grow up in the 80’s, or a fan of the 80’s films?  I sure am and if you haven’t seen Netflix’s new series Stranger Things then you are just flat missing out.  This show was so satisfying to watch, I honestly could watch it over and over again.

Stranger Things Season One Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWxyRG_tckY

Set in the early 80s, the show is an 80’s influence and nostalgic throwback of the good old days when I grew up.  The series centers around a mysterious disappearance of a young boy, Will (Noah Schnapp), and the finding of a young girl known as Eleven (Millie Brown). Will is one of a group of four friends who make up a very tight knit and adventurous bunch.  When Will’s friends Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) find out he’s missing they go on a desperate quest to find him.  They are also the ones who discover the young mysterious girl only known as Eleven and quickly find out she’s not a normal girl.

Will’s friends aren’t the only one’s looking for him as his mother, Joyce (Winona Ryder), and older brother, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), are also trying to find him.  Along the way both Will’s friends and his family discover some very dangerous and disturbing moments that this small Illinois town has potentially been hiding.

As soon as Stranger Things begins it sucks you right into the story line, nostalgia of the 80’s and drops you right into a very familiar place with the 80’s films we once enjoyed. The creators of the show Matt and Ross Duffer bring the 80’s influence to this show brilliantly and bring us something new we haven’t seen in a long time…originality!  The depiction of these young kids and the way they speak, interact and, yep, ride bikes together when it’s dark outside, feels just like an old Spielberg movie!  As soon as I saw the kids on their bikes after dark it sparked the childhood memories of E.T. and the adventure scenes of one of my favorite films to date The Goonies, which was also produced by Spielberg.

Stranger Things doesn’t just bring an influence of the 80’s like Spielberg moments, but a much larger cast of our favorite childhood influences!  My favorite thing about the show is the overall feel they gave it with the opening credits, music, and vibes!  You get to see a John Carpenter mash-up of intense suspenseful music and opening scenes which brings a scariness to the show.  This show brings the horror fans of us out as we do get to see some gore and very intense scary moments for one unfortunate soul in the opening.  The Duffer Brothers have even said that Stephen King, Carpenter and Spielberg were very much a primary influences on them and it sure shows in all it’s magical Stranger Things glory!

What I like the best about the show is that it’s not just a copy cat of famous 80’s script writers and directors as the show creates a very intriguing and eye catching world of it’s own.  Well written and thought out, the show is centered around a great group of likable characters which is in part to how well the kids themselves interact and work as a group. The Duffer brothers did a fantastic job of finding a cast who wasn’t a polished set of actors, but brought a realness to the show which helps draw the audience even closer.

So this is showcasing the great 80’s right, well you can’t do that without having some teen drama in the show.  Nancy (Natalia Dyer) is the older sister of Mike who is one of Will’s friends and she also brings a very real feeling to the screen.  The one person who I felt stand out in performance was (Wynona Ryder) as Joynce, which plays the single mother who through the eight episode season grows worrisome, estranged at times, and very volatile with her emotions, understandably of course.  One of my favorite roles in the show is (David Harbour) which plays the local arrogant tough guy police chief.  He’s a very complex character once you get to see his part unfold in the story.

If the show had one area it’s lacking, I would say tying things up from a story standpoint was the only minus I’d give the show.  The show had so many mysteries that unfolded in this season it kept you on edge most of the show, but I just wish it felt more fully formed! But I’m not a director and this may have been done on purpose so they could pull that story line into season 2 if Netflix decides to pick them up for season 2 that is.  This show had so much going on, and they came from all sorts of angles it always kept you guessing as to what was coming next, just like a good horror / suspense film would have.  Some of those things included government and scientific conspiracies, to the growth of relationships the boys had to go through while looking for their friend. All in all at the end of the show I felt we were left with an unsatisfied question of what just happened, but at the same time enjoyment and awe of what comes next.

Overall this series get’s an A+ in my book as the love for the works of all the great 80’s directors that brought us so much joy and excitement in the horror, science fiction realms. The Duffer Brothers have done an amazing job combining all of these different tones and genres together to make us feel right at home.  The show goes from moments of questionable actions to moments of absolute terror all set among a very curious bunch of of kids and does it without making you feel like it’s a knockoff 80’s horror film!

Go check it out and let me know what you thought of the show in the comments.  Would love to hear your feedback on the show, and what you did or didn’t like about it.

Until next time!

The Walking Dead – The Game – Episode 2 Starved for Help Review

/ Detached / Leave a comment

walkingdead_episode2_group-600x400The second of my five episode review, Starved for Help picks up three months after the zombie apocalypse erupted.  You are still playing as Lee trying to protect Clementine, and now dealing with a group of survivors and trying to make the best of a dump motel you’ve tried turning into a secured fort.  This is where the game has gotten really interesting because the choices you make help build relationships and can also destroy relationships. Every choice you make caries over into a new episode of the game you play, so all those choices you made in episode one you now have to live with in Starved for Help.

This game doesn’t give you a second chance or to take back your choices to someone, so when your dialogue windows pop up it gives you just a few seconds to choose, and those choices could bring you closer to a friend or even create a new enemy in a later episode.

download (7)This episode is the first time you get to see the choices you made in the previous episodes. Everything from your relationship with Clementine, to the new found friendship with Kenny.  This also means that you have some remembering to do… did you tell any lies in the previous episode, were you truthful, who did you be-friend and who did you make an enemy out of.  All of these choices set Lee and his group up for a very suspenseful and action packed 2nd episode.

download (6)Starved for Help opens with the most gruesome scene to date in the game in my opinion, but besides the blood and guts it is becoming a really big challenge to keep your cool and look out for the group.  You have become a leader in the group and you have to make the tough decisions at times, and you get thrown right into the middle of your group’s nearly out of food, so it’s up to you to decide who gets to eat and who doesn’t.  Will you pick your friends, will you take the high ground and do whats best for the group, what will you do? That draw back you might have going with the emotion thing really comes into picture when a new group of survivors from the St. John’s Dairy Farm show up and invite your group to come over and trade gas for food. The family asks Lee all sorts of questions about the group, but something isn’t quite right with them.  Do you take the chance and go with these strangers who say they have food, or do you chance it and stay at the motel and hope you all can survive.

images (26)Episode 2 is full of cliffhanger moments, sketchy choices you have to make, new chances to redeem yourself, and even be-friend some new people.  It’s suspensful, emotional, full of blood and guts, and it even has some WTF moments in it that really make you turn your head and ask yourself what the heck just happened….but I’m not going to spoil those moments for you as you will just have to check the game our for yourself.

scr.ee tags:

#thewalkingdead #seasonone #episodetwo

 

The Walking Dead – Game Review – Episode 1 A New Day

/ Detached / Leave a comment

images (15)In the first of my five episode reviews of The Walking Dead Season 1, you jump right into the game as the character Lee Everett, a man who was convicted of killing a man, and is currently on his way to prison.  In the midst of being transported to prison, the great zombie apocalypse abruptly outbreaks and you are now in control of this characters fate. Lee has been given a second chance of sorts now that the zombies are out and about, so it’s up to you to keep Lee alive and survive in this amazing horror.

The really cool part about this game is the story all takes place concurrently with the comic book series.  You now taking over and controlling the story of Lee is all happening while Rick the main character of the comic book series, is calmly asleep in his hospital bed. Though the story is happening in conjunction with one another, the game is a completely separate story line.  There will be a few familiar faces along the way of the game but for the most part it’s a whole new group of survivors and a whole lot of plot twisting.  This game has a ton of action and cut scenes that help build the stories main and sub plot lines, but you “Lee” will spend a lot of time making on the cuff decisions and having to live with the outcome.

images (14)The Walking Dead removes any second guessing and makes you choose a decision in a split second. Basically someone will ask you a question and you’ll have a limited time to pick one of four responses. Whatever you decide, you and whatever group you are with have to live with the outcome of that decision.  Also, the group will remember what you say and take note of your decisions.  Remember this is the same story line that everyone plays, but how they answer the questions is what depicts how the game plays out.  I’ve currently got multiple sessions of the game going as I want to play out different choice lines to see the outcome of the game.  You have three save slots available so ultimately you have three chances at the game having a different outcome to the same story.

Into the game we go… as when you play a zombie game you want to crush a few skulls and bash some zombie scum right?  Ok, so with this game the creators made a very unique movement and reaction system.  I’ve been playing the mobile version of the game so the controls on the phone are a bit different then the PC or Console versions.  You navigate Lee with your finger and he follows on-screen.  Sounds easy right…?  Wrong, as you sometimes have split seconds to decide what direction to go, or what zombie you have to kill.  They have even designed the “OMG” button that you have to frantically tap to get out of some sticky situations in the game.  Overall the movement in this game gets an A+ in my book because it’s easy to learn, and easy to follow along with, though it is much harder to target a “Walker” than you would think.

Walking_dead_telltale_game_charactersThe graphics in game are spectacularly done as well… they have that gritty, dark comic book look to them.  There is not a shortage of blood and gore in this zombie montage of craziness either.  Visually this game is beautiful in it’s own twisted sorta way. Plus, with the exception of a strange camera angle or a cut scene jumping the game is amazing.  The game is amazing but it’s not flawless but for the caliber of game quality you get I really don’t have many complaints and what complaints I do have are trivial at best. This by far is one of the best zombie apocalypse games I have ever played.

scr.ee tags:

#thewalkingdead #seasonone