Vampires vs. Zombies: Why Brain-Eating is Better than Blood-Sucking
With the recent arrival of Left 4 Dead to consoles and Twilight to theaters, I began to ponder an age-old question. No, it’s not why text message shortcuts for words have worked their way into zombie-themed game titles, or even why audiences are able to stomach another “youth vampire” film after The Lost Boys: The Tribe’s straight-to-video release earlier this year, but rather, “Who’s scarier: zombies or vampires?” Allow me to explain why zombies are the more frightening, and ultimately superior, of the two.
The latest game in the Castlevania series, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is taking the vampire vanquishing franchise to new heights, and breaks down gender barriers at the same time. The first game to feature a sole female protagonist, though Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin had a female main character, Charlotte (Jonathan!), sharing the spotlight, Ecclesia’s Shanoa is a worthy successor to the monster hunting throne.
Game series survive based off one continuous, common theme. I mean, “survive” in that they don’t always succeed in evolving the series. The current trend is pulling games from their original genres into new ones. For all we decry about the lack of original ideas, genre-jumpers are not original. In some ways, it may be the developer ran out of ideas. Genre-jumping games are diversions to extend the life of series that might be better off not reproducing.
Castlevania has been around for over 20 years delighting gamers with great gameplay and a compelling plotline. While some of the games have been less than stellar, namely the fully 3D ones, the last couple of years have been great to the series; it has returned to the format of its glory days. The newest game in the Castlevania family, and the third Nintendo DS title, is shaping up to be yet another amazing addition.
Why did GameTap relinquish a great staff of news editors barely six months after launching GameTap Read? To focus on its primary function, Rick Sanchez explains: providing access to lots of classic games for little money.
In a continued effort to screw over Wii owners by making games they don’t want to play (Ninjabread Man and Dewy’s Adventure, I’m looking at you!), Konami has revealed the Wii-exclusive Castlevania Judgment, a 3D fighter in the vein of the Soul Calibur series. The title will feature countless characters from the Castlevania universe, such as Alucard and Simon Belmont, duking it out in Gothic cathedrals and dilapidated clock towers with all manner of weapons, from whips to boomerangs to throwing knives. If you find yourself weeping in disappointment and piling on black eyeliner while listening to The Cure, you’re not alone.