The Saw movie franchise has spawned numerous movies, most of which have been received very positively by the public and critics alike. Thus, it’s no wonder that the developers eventually decided to create a video game based on the movies, in order to give the fans the ability to experience their eerie environments first-hand.

And even though the game succeeded in many aspects, even where some other games have failed before, it still failed to satisfy the franchise’s fans and video game fans in general, due to some of its more prominent glitches and the at time weird designer choices.

Gameplay

The game is played from the third perspective, and is mostly an adventure with some action flicks thrown in. You play the role of an ex-detective trying to escape a facility riddled with Jigsaw’s traps. This comprises the majority of the game’s gameplay initially, though at times you’ll be forced to fight other enemies.

The combat system has been moderately well executed, and you’re able to perform various moves on your enemies to incapacitate them, with most of the combat being focused on hand-to-hand. The variety of weapons is very good, and we certainly enjoyed how well the game has been polished in that aspect.

There are some points at the game where you’ll get assistance from some computer-controlled teammates who’ll be required to progress through some of the tests. At some points, you’ll be given the choice of branching your journey through different routes, which may provide you with some bonuses.

You should enjoy the diversity in the level design in general, and the game deserves special praise for the way it develops some of its characters. On the other hand, sometimes you’ll really feel bugged by the way the AI blocks you and prevents you from progressing, and you’ll wish it just wasn’t there in the first place.

Graphics and System Requirements

Saw features the Unreal Engine 3, which most of us know what’s capable of. You should expect top notch graphics and eye-catching effects, and a good play on lighting. On the other hand, some of the engine’s characteristic problems, such as the plastic-looking light shining on objects, as well as the high system requirements, are present and very persistent at times.

The requirements should be noted specifically – if you don’t have a good machine to play this on (if you’re playing it on the PC), forget about even enjoying it at the lowest settings. You need a fairly good computer, capable of running DX9 graphics and the latest Pixel Shader versions. This, however, is more than justified by the graphics’ quality, as we mentioned above.

Other

The game makes some changes to the movies’ storyline, so don’t expect to get the exact same thing. Some of you may feel annoyed by this, others probably won’t care that much – but you should be warned about it.

Conclusion

If you’re a fan of the movies, you may feel slightly let down by the game – but that’s not to say that it doesn’t deserve a try; no – Saw can give you some quality moments in front of the monitor, despite its occasional problems.

See larger image SAW (Video Game) List Price: $29.99 USD New From: $19.74 In Stock Used from: $18.66 In Stock Release date October 6, 2009.

In Cursed Mountain, you’ll get a tasty dose of survival horror mixed with adventure and exploration, with just a perfect balance of the two to keep the game entertaining for long enough. And unlike most other titles that have the word “horror” simply slapped underneath their names, Cursed Mountain focuses on genuinely scaring you and tickling that part of your brain that makes you turn around in a paranoid manner – all without a single droplet of blood or any gore at all.

Gameplay

The game is played from a third-person perspective, something which is becoming quite common for the adventure games coming out lately (as scarce as they have been). There’s a strong element of exploration, with all of the levels featuring intricate pathways for you to move through and collect valuable items. On the other hand, you’ll have to do a fair bit of fighting if you want to survive, which should keep you on your toes like a true horror should. The story takes place a few decades ago in the Himalayas, and is riddled with elements of evil, spirits, and the unknown.

As we mentioned earlier, there’s no gore involved in Cursed Mountain – you may find this contradictory to the combat element we mentioned above, but there’s a very rational explanation – you won’t be fighting any live enemies – not humans, not zombies, not even the odd mutated rat – instead, all of your adversaries will come in the form of spirits which you must first slay and then free their souls.

Graphics and System Requirements

The graphics look okay for an adventure game – the engine performs nicely, the environment is detailed and there are some very cool-looking effects used at times. Not everything is so perfect though – for example, the player’s character has been animated rather poorly, some textures end up missing, and graphical artifacts in general can be seen here and there. They don’t ruin the overall feeling of the game though. One thing we would change if we could would be to turn up the brightness in some areas, too.

Other

You may feel a bit frustrated by the game’s controls from time to time, and the level designs may give you a few problems in that they tend to be slightly repetitive. That shouldn’t deter you much from finishing the game though, and some of its more successful elements, like the music score, will surely make up for those problems.

Conclusion

Cursed Mountain is one of those horror games that you can pick up and almost play in one run, simply because the story ties you down so strongly. It’s a pleasing game, and despite the premise should be quite entertaining even to those who don’t enjoy scaring themselves all too much. It may not be a game you’ll come back to and finish it a second time, but your first run will be memorable.

See larger image Cursed Mountain (Video Game) List Price: $19.99 USD New From: $2.50 In Stock Used from: $2.50 In Stock Release date August 25, 2009.

Left 4 Dead 2 is the sequel to Valve’s hit online zombie shooter, Left 4 Dead. Despite gaining some criticism over the fact that it was released just one year after its predecessor (and not as a free expansion, either – a full-blown game with regular price) – it still managed to live up to the expectations gamers had about it and surpassed Left 4 Dead’s popularity timesfold. The game remains one of the most popular online shooters right now, and keeps bringing new players in.

Gameplay

Left 4 Dead 2 puts the player in the role of one of four survivors in a zombie apocalypse, who have to make their way through a variety of levels mimicking the style of classic horror movies, looking for a way out of the whole mess. There are new weapons, with the addition of a new category, melee weapons, as well as new types of zombies – and new special ones, like the Jockey who can take control of a player and attempt to steer them in the wrong direction away from his/her buddies.

The gameplay is even more intense than before, with the AI Director doing its best to keep players on their toes throughout the levels, while making sure they get a few seconds of breather after a massive fight, in order to prepare for the next one.

Graphics and System Requirements

The four survivors have been designed extremely well, as were those in the first game – each has their own personality and behavior, and they look and sound unique, which greatly adds to the atmosphere of the game. The writing is superb, and the dialogue between the characters reveals them as near-lifelike human beings bit by bit, such as the slightly cynical gambler Nick, or the amiable and somewhat naive country boy Ellis – after just a few rounds they grow on you and it’s part of what brings you back for more.

The overall graphics quality is good, as can be expected from Valve’s Source Engine, which has been presented in its latest incarnation here. The survivors’ flashlights cast very realistic shadows from the objects around the levels and the players themselves, and the addition of daylight levels as opposed to the all-night style of the first game is a refreshing change. Source is known for its scalability on older machines, so you should be able to run the game even if you’re not up to date with your hardware.

Other

Valve have a tendency to continuously update their games post-release without any extra fees, and Left 4 Dead 2 is no exception – it received a free content package after its release, containing a whole new episode – though when we say free, we only mean the PC version of course – due to Microsoft’s policies, the update costs 560 MS Points on the Xbox 360.

Conclusion

If you’re a fan of horror movies/games and you want a game packed with tasteful dark humor that you can enjoy with your friends, Left 4 Dead 2 would have you glued to the screen.

See larger image Left 4 Dead - Game of the Year Edition (Video Game) List Price: $19.99 USD New From: $17.02 In Stock Used from: $14.23 In Stock Release date May 12, 2009.

When it comes to zombie shooters, there have been numerous attempts to create something original in the genre – and most of them have been just copies of the previous, with one or two added features. Some games have managed to stand out from the crowd though – and in some rare cases, even non-commercial projects have caught the spotlight.

Killing Floor started out as a freeware modification for Unreal Tournament 2004, which was subsequently adopted into a complete commercial product that’s now enjoying a steady fan base (which, as of recently, has expanded to Mac users as well).

Gameplay

Killing Floor has several players fighting together as units in a special response team in an outbreak of zombies. The gameplay is very dynamic, with levels being divided into several parts, during which players need to survive against an oncoming wave of zombies. After each section, they can visit a store to purchase better weapons, using money that’s earned by killing zombies.

Some of the weapons are slightly unbalanced though, some positively, some negatively, as the shotguns tend to be a lot more useful than the other weapons for their price, as an example (and weapons like the flamethrower see less use because of their low price/usefulness ratio). The zombies’ AI is commendable, on the other hand, as they don’t always rely on blind rushes to get their “job” done.

Graphics and System Requirements

The game uses the Unreal Engine 2.5, which is getting a bit old for today’s standards. You can see some repetitive textures here and there, as well as the engine’s “trademark” square-patterned light beams. However, this makes it very good for older computers which can enjoy it without much strain, and this has helped the game retain its player base despite the heavy competition from other similar games such as Valve’s Left 4 Dead and its sequel.

The atmosphere is a bit more serious/grim than that of Left 4 Dead though, with some references to demons and Satanism, as well as more brutally-looking zombies and effects. The characters are more generic and not as uniquely designed as L4D’s, though that doesn’t kill the atmosphere and it’s still enjoyable to exchange voice commands as you’re on your way to the next wave.

Other

The game has a few bugs in several occasions, one of which may prevent you from progressing on a level, though it can be averted in most cases. It can also get somewhat repetitive fast, so try using some of the more underutilized weapons if you want to spice up your experience and feel that the game’s getting dull.

Conclusion

If you’re crazy about horror-themed entertainment, Killing Floor is one of the games you must not miss – it may not be as polished as Valve’s series, and may not have as many players behind it, but the fun you can have in it is still on par with its competition.

See larger image Killing Floor (CD-ROM) List Price: $19.99 USD New From: $16.35 In Stock Used from: $8.99 In Stock Release date September 23, 2009.

The popularity of the movies “Aliens” and “Predator” lead to the creation of a highly successful cross-franchise titled “Aliens vs Predator”, which spans over several comic books, video games and movies. The latest installment in the video game department of the franchise is a reboot, titled simply “Aliens vs Predator”, with the original one being renamed to “AvP Classic 2000″.

Gameplay

The game features three separate campaigns as previously, each allowing the player to see the storyline from the perspective of the three races – humans, aliens, and Predators. Playing as a human puts you in the boots of a marine in a survival horror-style game, with a heavy emphasis on the atmosphere and careful tactical gameplay. Playing as an alien, you’ll be stalking your victims in gameplay that resembles popular stealth games, with some cool mechanics such as climbing on walls.

The gameplay of the Predator is perhaps the most challenging of all three, featuring various complex elements and overlapping mechanics, combining stealth with fast reflex-based gameplay, which results in a very unique experience that can’t be found in another shooter. The three races have been very nicely balanced for multiplayer as well, providing some entertaining hours of fun online. Some may argue that the Predator feels too powerful in the right hands, but it’s balanced well enough by its steep learning curve and skill requirements.

Graphics and System Requirements

An advanced graphical engine powers Aliens vs Predator, allowing for some very eye-catching graphics and effects. This contributes to its atmosphere simply perfectly, giving developers lots of room for creativity – which they’ve utilized simply perfectly. It all comes through most obviously in the marine’s part of the game, where you’ll be paying a lot more attention to your surroundings than usual, trying to avoid that facehugger hidden around the corner.

Forget about playing it on an old rig though – you’ll need a fairly powerful computer to enjoy AvP smoothly. Even on the lowest graphical settings, it’s still quite a strain on the machine, especially on the graphics card, so you’ll have to be equipped accordingly.

Other

Some of the negativism from the community came from comparing the game to the previous installments in the series – and in that regard, we’ll have to warn you to be prepared for slight disappointment if you’ve been a fan of the previous games. It’s true that the gameplay doesn’t quite live up to what the previous ones had to offer, and the game feels mostly like a graphical update in some aspects.

Still, its multiplayer proved to be noticeably more fun than that in the original and the rest, so that’s definitely a strong point to consider when buying AvP.

Conclusion

It may not be made with the same love and attention as the previous games in the series, but it’s still a fun experience that should give you a few hours of quality entertainment.

See larger image Aliens vs Predator (Video Game) List Price: $39.99 USD New From: $27.89 In Stock Used from: $22.84 In Stock Release date February 16, 2010.