Game review: Call of Cthulhu
A game that I highly recommend is Call of Cthulhu. This is the cosmic wet dream of most game masters, as you explore the Lovecraft mythos, and fight monsters, demons and cosmic monsters beyond imagination. This game allows you to truly role play in a dark, morbid world that fills you with the realization of how small and worthless you are in the back drop of ancient primordial horrors that walk among the stars. The game tests your sanity and what depths of shadows you can role play in. One of the key parts of the game is your sanity, which is how much you can take before going mad from all the shit you are going through. This game is far less about combat and war like dnd or Warhammer, and more just survival and trying to stay alive and find the truth of whatever evil story you are in. It's far more a test and based in scaring you and challenging your fears more than action. The game feels like you are reading a pulp fiction science novel from the 50s with all its weirdness and film noir and often feels like a detective story with alien monsters. If you want to be scared and have fun all at once, try the Call of Cthulhu out..... just don't go too far down the rabbit hole of fear.
-- By Grant Nelson
Book Review: Foundation series
A book series that I would recommend is the classic Foundation by Isaac Asimov, which has been adapted to a TV show on apple tv. The books follow the rise of and fall of a galactic human empire and is very much based off Rome's fall.The books deal with politics and plots within plots, plus wars between rival star kingdoms. After the empire falls, a dark age descends upon the universe, but a lone faction of the empire known as the Foundation, sets out to hold onto the light of reason and knowledge. The books and their themes are what Star Wars and Dune are based on.The books delve heavily into the very soul of humanity and what makes us human. It shows the themes of history and how empires rise and fall -- something that we can all see in the real world. The books deal with a classical view of civilization and how humanity is in a constant cycle of history and how some select people with the will and knowledge can overthrow entire civilizations, and start and end wars like a game of Dominoes. The books are what all modern science fiction can trace back to. The show is on apple tv and feels like Game of Thrones in space. I say, give this fictional universe a shot.
-- By Grant Nelson
Game Review: A great Star Wars MMO that I play all the time is the Old Republic and if you love Sith and Jedi armies battling for control of the universe, want to travel the universe as a smuggler, or want to lead special forces troops into war zones, look no further. The game is set in the Old Republic era in the midst of a war between the Sith empire and the Republic. The game lets you chose what class you want to play as based on the faction you join from: bounty hunters, Republic troopers, Jedi and Sith. The game is filled with lore and you get to travel across the galaxy to massive worlds such as Hoth, the Hutt home world,Coruscant, Tatooine and many others. You get your ship and crew and follow missions given to you by the Republic or Empire. There are some worlds which both armies of players fight over. For a MMO, there's a lot of role playing and building you own story. The game is turning 10 years this fall and still has a huge fan base. The story truly rebuild the old light side vs dark side from the classic trilogy. So grab your light saber and report to the briefing.
-- By Grant Nelson
Halo anniversary:
So its the 20th anniversary of the Halo game that shaped millions of peoples' lives. The game and universe has gone through so many narratives and genres of media and gaming but has always held onto its core. The Halo franchise started off as a sandbox space warfare open world game filled with space dinosaurs and hordes of aliens and space marines fighting over a ring world with no lore or back story, but would one day come to be the Halo Universe with its spartan heroes and deep lore we know today. We have had countless books, games and comics set over a 100,000 years to fall in love with, plus fan projects like red vs blue and Arby as the chief. Halo has set in our hearts as land parties of friends playing capture the flag or fighting off hordes of aliens in fire fight or drawing erotic fan art of Catana. With the new Halo on the way, which intends to bring fans back to the heart and core spirit of what the first Halo with many of those space dinos and open world elements coming back, I am stoked. In the meantime, I say give the master chief collection of all the core Halo games in one filled with modding, new functions and a thriving legacy community a shot.
-- By Grant Nelson