Halloween Town in Kingdom Hearts: A Very Square Halloween

Happy Halloween!  It's time to celebrate the scariest holiday of the year, pop in a creepy game (if you need some help choosing, feel free to pick a game that I've covered this past month), turn off the lights, and prepare to be scared!  Today we're going to look at a game that isn't very scary at all (wait, what's going on?!), but is still fitting for the 31st of October.  That game is Kingdom Hearts, and more specifically we're going to look at the Halloween Town level which is based off of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

For the uninitiated, Kingdom Hearts is a game that combined characters from Square-Enix games with those of Disney films.  It sounds very odd, but it made for an awesome adventure.  Besides, who doesn't want to see Donald Duck kick some ass?  Each world you visit is based off of a Disney film, such as the underwater city in The Little Mermaid, the jungle in Tarzan, and Agrabah from Aladdin.

Now, the Nightmare Before Christmas might not seem to be a Disney film, but it was developed by Touchstone Pictures, which is owned by Disney.  Therefore the developers of Kingdom Hearts made a good choice by reaching into this film's universe to construct a spooky and fun world to explore.

This level begins by dropping protagonists Sora, Goofy, and Donald Duck (yes I know it sounds absurd) right into Guillotine Plaza, which you'll immediately recognize from the opening of the film.  The signature guillotine is there of course, as are multiple Jack O'Lanterns and dreary-looking buildings.  Also, an instrumental version of This is Halloween plays in the background most of the time.

Indeed Goofy, indeed.

From here, we can access multiple locations, such as Doctor Finkelstein's lab, where the doc himself is trying to discover a way to implant hearts into "the Heartless" (the main grunt enemies in the game).  You'll also be able to enter Halloween Town's graveyard in all its creepy glory.  It's probably even more creepy in the game due to the multiple battles with ghost-like Heartless monsters.  Also making an appearance is the iconic Moonlight Hill, which you'll recognize from the film as the curled up hill which unrolls as Jack Skellington walks across it.

Last but not least, you'll get to visit Oogie Boogie's Manor.  Here you must scale the imposing structure while fighting off multiple Heartless.  This eventually leads you to Oogie's torture chamber, where you'll find the man himself (technically he's not a man but you know what I mean).

All these locations in Kingdom Hearts are very well done, not surprising given the quality Square-Enix is known for, and should make fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas grin with delight.  The locales definitely feel as though they were pulled right from the film, despite some changes here and there (such as an occasionally reddish-colored sky).

Locations alone wouldn't be enough to convey the spirit of the film, there needs to be characters, and the game delivers on that front too.  At the start of the level you immediately meet up with Jack Skellington and the double-faced mayor.  Jack even joins your party, which is awesome enough on its own.  As mentioned earlier you'll also see Doctor Finkelstein in his lab, as well as his creation (and Jack's girlfriend) the stitched up Sally.

Since Oogie Boogie is present in the game, his minions Lock, Shock, and Barrel are present and causing mischief.  Speaking of Oogie, he serves as the level's main boss, where you must battle him in a couple different forms.

When all is said and done, the developers at Square-Enix did an awesome job integrating the world of The Nightmare Before Christmas into this game.  Fans of the film will enjoy seeing their favorite characters and exploring their favorite locales.  For me it was worth it just to have the iconic This is Halloween theme music playing in the background (my favorite song in the film).  If you're looking for a mostly non-scary way to spend Halloween, what better way than to visit Halloween Town in Kingdom Hearts?

I hope you guys have enjoyed this past month of spooky-themed gaming posts, thanks for reading!

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Castlevania: The House That Dracula Built

Very few games can encapsulate the spirit of Halloween better than Castlevania.  A journey through a gigantic castle filled with all sorts of monsters and creepy scenery, which concludes in a showdown with Dracula?  The only way this could be anymore Halloween-themed is if it had a set of decorative Jack O'Lanterns scattered throughout each castle.  Today we're going to cover some of the monsters that our vampire-hunting protagonists encounter in the Castlevania games.

In these games you'll find the usual suspects in fantasy horror games/media, such as zombies, skeletons (so many different types of skeletons that it's not even funny), and bats.  Since these are so common in other games, let's discuss some other enemies that are less abundant outside of Castlevania.

Medusa Heads

If you've played any of the games in this series, then you're very familiar with this enemy (probably more familiar than you'd like).  Their appearance is pretty self-explanatory thanks to their name: they are essentially disembodied heads of Medusa, complete with the snake hairstyle.  These enemies tend to attack in swarms which fly through the air, usually in a bobbing pattern which generally makes them difficult to avoid.

Most people will list Medusa Heads as the most annoying enemy in the Castlevania games due to the relentless way they throw massive amounts of these monsters at you.  There is really no choice but to try and attack as many as possible, otherwise you'll take too much damage to continue much further.

Bone Pillar

Yes, I said I'd be skipping skeletons in this article, but I'm willing to make an exception for this iconic enemy.  Bone Pillars are usually represented as two or more skulls stacked on top of each other.  They aren't the boring overused human skulls either, they are dinosaur skulls.

Note the stack of dinosaur skulls at the right side of the screen.

At first you might consider these to be a mild threat because they are a completely stationary enemy, basically just a skull statue.  However, Bone Pillars are capable of shooting fireballs from their mouths, giving them a pretty decent ranged attack.  To make matters worse, sometimes these enemies hang out on the far side of a gap you must jump over.  Time your jump wrong and the knock-back from getting hit by a fireball will send you to your doom.

Mermen

Even though the name of this enemy might make you think it's some kind of pansy straight out of The Little Mermaid, make no mistake, Mermen are worthy to be in Dracula's castle.  They are actually quite hideous in appearance, looking similar to the Zoras in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Wherever you find pools of water in a Castlevania game, chances are a Merman is lurking within.  These enemies will jump out of the water and proceed to stalk towards you (bet you never thought a Merman would be capable of walking on dry land, did you?).  Every once in a while Mermen will shake things up by stopping and shoot fireballs out of their mouth.  Despite being fairly easy to defeat, you never want to underestimate a ranged attack.

There are obviously many more enemies in the Castlevania games, but to be honest most are variations of each other (there must be over twenty different types of skeleton warriors in these games).  Besides some of the more annoying enemies (I'm looking at you Medusa Heads), most of these creatures are fun to battle while you play as a vampire-slaying bad-ass.  Which Castlevania enemies do you guys consider to be the most memorable?

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Creepers in Minecraft: Evil Self-Destructing Terrors

Today we're going to talk about the most brutal, most annoying, and most popular enemy in Minecraft: the Creeper.  Truly these creeps enjoy creeping around and causing massive amounts of damage to you and anything you've built.  Nothing drives home the point that you shouldn't leave your safe area at nighttime like one of these monsters.

Creepers are the most unique enemies in the game.  Whereas monsters like giant spiders and zombies are based off of popular fictional creatures, you'd be hard-pressed to find something in other fictional works that looks and acts like a Creeper.  They're basically armless beasts with four legs and a large head, with a face that appears to have a permanent expression of sadness.  I'd be sad too if my only means of defending myself was to use a suicide-causing exploding attack.

And that brings us to why Creepers are infuriating.  If one of them catches sight of you, which they will due to their good eyesight, it will run up to your location and explode as soon as it saddles up next to you.  Unlike the other enemies in the game, Creepers don't announce their arrival by making sounds.  In fact, they are completely silent up until the point when it's too late to run away (they make a hissing sound the instant before they explode).  Therefore they earn their name due to their ability to creep up on you when you aren't looking and cause devastating amounts of damage.

A Creeper explosion in progress.

If you're lucky enough to survive the initial explosion, you'll find that the blast has caused a huge crater, and taken out pretty much everything within a small radius.  If you're like myself and create your houses out of wooden planks, large sections of these structures won't stand a chance.  Stone holds up much better but is still not strong enough to be impenetrable.  And you thought Endermen were bad when it came to disassembling your creations?

Thankfully it is possible to take down a Creeper, but you must be much more cautious than you would with other enemies.  The easiest way is to use a bow and arrow to shoot them from a distance, which will give you plenty of breathing room.  However, I prefer to take them down with a sword, which is much more risky.  This requires running up to the Creeper, slicing at it, then retreating before it explodes.  Rinse and repeat until this evil monster draws its last hissing breath.

Beating down a Creeper using a sword.

Preventing Creepers from spawning is as good a reason as any to place torches every couple of feet in your safe zone.  A rogue zombie or spider is fine every once in a while, but you most definitely do not want to deal with a Creeper spawning there and potentially destroying your creative works.  Do you guys have any memorable moments of Creeper destruction?

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ReDeads in Zelda: The Nintendo Take on Zombies

Zombies, zombies everywhere!  At least that's what it seems like when it comes to videogames (and more recently, television shows).  The Legend of Zelda games are no exception due to their own form of zombie: the ReDead.  Today let's observe this undead (does being re-dead technically count as undead? hmm...) monstrosity that Link must face.

ReDeads made their first appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and what a first appearance it is.  Link finds himself in an underground tomb of the royal family of Hyrule (located in Kakariko Village's graveyard), and comes across a large room filled with zombie ReDeads.  In fact, the majority of ReDeads are found in tombs, as well as Hyrule Castle Town after Ganondorf sacks it.  It wouldn't be appropriate to have this super-disturbing enemy hanging out on the sunny beach of Lake Hylia, now would it?

Before you even catch sight of a ReDead, you'll know it's nearby due to the distinctive moaning sounds it makes (maybe it's saying "braaaiiinss" in the Hylian language?).  They walk extremely slow, and with a hunchbacked posture, fitting for a zombie.  You might think that this would make them easy to avoid, but the game developers were one step ahead of you.  ReDeads will let out a high-pitched scream when Link is nearby, which paralyzes him in fear.  When this happens, you helplessly watch as one or more of these monsters shambles towards the frozen Link.  Once they are close enough, they will jump on Link's back and proceed to bite him.

Just like the Dead Hand in Ocarina of Time, this creature was clearly designed to give kids nightmares.  It's definitely one of the most-feared enemies in the game.

Like most enemies in Ocarina of Time, the ReDead makes an appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.  This game also contains an enemy called the Gibdo, which is basically a ReDead dressed up in mummy wrappings.  While wearing the Gibdo mask, Link can converse with some of these zombie mummies, while you try to decide if you're horrified or amused.

ReDeads even pull in a guest appearance in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.  Here they abandon their previous looks for something we are more accustomed to seeing with zombies.  They have greenish dead-looking skin, as well as a mouthful of teeth, definitely nailing the undead corpse look.  They have very long arms which almost drag on the ground, and a gigantic head (oddly enough, they even have earrings), making for an altogether disturbing visual appearance.  Like their previous incarnations, they have a paralyzing scream that incapacitates Link.

That about wraps up our quick look at the zombie creatures in the Legend of Zelda games.  ReDeads are definitely a frightening enemy, due to their appearance and their ability to freeze Link on the spot.  They are proof that Nintendo does display a bit of a dark side every once in a while, and that's fine with me!

What did you guys think of the ReDeads?  Did they give you a fright when you first encountered them?

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The Berserker and Kryll in Gears of War: Heart-Pounding Action

When you think Gears of War, you're likely thinking of nonstop action, extremely gory chainsaw fatalities, and in the case of the later games in the series, awkward drama moments.  If you've played the very first entry in the series however, you'll also remember that Gears once had some truly scary and stressful moments.  For those of you who jumped into the world of Sera during the second or third Gears games, this is going to be a quick introduction to the Kryll and Berserkers, two of the most feared enemy types in Gears of War (I know there's a form of Berserker in Gears 3, but it's watered down so it doesn't count).

Marcus has a rough night ahead of him.

Kryll

The Kryll are essentially bats from hell.  They lived primarily underground before the chaotic events of Emergence Day (when the Locust emerged from their underground habitat to begin a siege on the surface of the planet).  Because they are accustomed to dark underground caverns, Kryll cannot tolerate light at all.  In the game we see that light has varying effects on these creatures, such as making them feel pain, or flat out causing them to burn to a crisp.  Therefore these enemies only emerge from underground at nighttime, and hunt in groups containing millions of Kryll.

Kryll filling the skies.

What makes Kryll dangerous is their carnivorous nature.  If they catch any living being standing exposed in the dark, they will swoop down in small (well if you call "hundreds" small) groups and devour it.  During the inevitable night missions in Gears of War, we witness Kryll reducing human beings to nothing but a bloody stain in mere seconds.

Using a UV cannon to neutralize glow-eyed Kryll.

During these night missions, you absolutely have to stay in lit up areas if you want to survive.  There are quite a few thrilling segments where you have to charge from streetlight to streetlight, occasionally diving into a well-lit building, all while taking heavy fire from Locust armies.  If you stay outside the light for too long, you're rewarded with a brutal scene of protagonist Marcus Fenix being eaten alive.

Berserker

You will encounter just a few of these enemies in the game, but the battles are definitely worth waiting for.  Berserkers are female Locust, and just like a Black Widow spider, the females are larger and much more dangerous than the males.

Berserkers for some reason are blind, and therefore rely on sound and smell to locate prey.  Your first encounter with this monster in Gears is inside a tomb, where a Berserker has gotten loose and proceeds to hunt you down.  As you creep through the halls you won't see her, but you'll hear her growling and smashing objects as she tries to locate you.  Before you know it, the Berserker smashes through a wall directly in front of you, and commences her charging attack.

This is not good...

This is an especially intense moment of the game, because the goal of the battle is to lure the Berserker out of the tomb so you can hit her with a satellite-based laser (she will shrug off your bullets as if they were spitballs).  Naturally you just want to run away from this huge, ugly creature, but since that's not an option you have to choose carefully when to get her attention so she will charge in the direction you choose.  Get too close to her and you'll get to see Marcus Fenix mauled to death.  This is a battle you'll have to experience yourself in order to feel the fear of being in close quarters with an almost-unstoppable enemy pursuing you.

In conclusion, I find these two enemy types to be the most frightening in the series, and I'm still disappointed that they didn't make any appearances in Gears of War 2 or 3.  They helped add variety to the battles and are sorely missed.  Did you guys play Gears of War 1?  If so, did you find Kryll and Berserkers to be pretty intense enemies?

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Stalkers in Half-Life 2: Grotesquely Recycled Human Beings

Half-Life 2 is great at describing a worst-case scenario about first-contact with an alien species, or in this case multiple alien species.  Here you won't find aliens expressing greetings from far away star systems, in Half-Life 2 humanity is still dealing with the aftermath of a seven-hour war with the Combine after they first teleported onto Earth.  That wasn't a typo, the war with humanity literally lasted seven hours before humanity had to surrender, giving you an idea of how powerful this enemy is.

In previous articles, I've covered some of the horrors that arose as a result of alien species mingling with earthlings, such as the zombies and the town of Ravenholm where you first encounter them in abundance.  Today we're going to look at another disgusting result of the Combine invasion, which are Stalkers.

Believe it or not, Stalkers were once human beings.  Through heavy surgical modifications, they have been transformed into disturbing Combine slaves whose main purpose is to maintain Combine machinery.  As you can see, their hands and lower legs have been removed and replaced with some form of multi-use prosthetic tools.

Their internal organs and gender-defining...um....features have also been removed.  Whatever form of nutrition the Combine is giving them is obviously not enough, seeing as their skin clings tightly to their skeletons.  It appears that their vocal chords have also been messed with, because the only sounds they are capable of making are hisses and growls.

At some point before becoming Stalkers, these people were either resistance members who were captured and sent in to be converted, or they lived in a location such as City 17 and were unknowingly shipped to the processing facility.  The processing facility, a level in Half-Life 2 called Nova Prospekt, is a former prison which is now mainly used to create Stalkers and Combine Soldiers (they are heavily modified humans as well).

Although they make only a brief appearance near the end of Half-Life 2, Stalkers are encountered much more frequently in Half-Life 2: Episode One.  Here you will cringe in disgust as you see these mutilated beings working frantically to repair the collapsing Citadel in City 17.  Also you will be forced into some claustrophobic locations where you're forced to see these monstrosities up close.  It is in the Citadel where you discover that the metal plate attached to a Stalker's face contains a functioning laser beam.

Note the Stalker in the background using his head-mounted laser.

Attacking any Stalkers or interrupting their repair efforts will cause them to focus those laser beams on you.  Thankfully protagonist Gordon Freeman is always armed to the teeth, so these battles aren't too difficult.  Also, these former people deserve to be put out of their misery, don't you think?

That concludes our quick look at one of the most unsettling things in Half-Life 2.  Seeing a human being who is so disgustingly altered is sure to bring about a shudder now and then.  What did you guys think of the Stalkers?

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Boos in Super Mario: The Not-So-Friendly Ghosts

Today let's take a look at one of the most recognizable enemies in the Super Mario series: Boos!  These ghastly enemies serve the purpose of adding a bit of supernatural elements to Mario's adventures, as if giant sentient mushrooms and evil turtles weren't supernatural enough for us all.

By ghost standards, Boos have a somewhat cutesy look that we've come to expect from Nintendo.  They basically resemble a rounded marshmallow in appearance, with two short stubby arms that seem to have no purpose other than to cover their eyes.  These ghosts usually wear a frown, and cruise around with their tongue stuck out of their large mouth.  Also they have large (and sometimes spiky) teeth sticking out of their upper jaw, probably as a last-ditch effort to make them look threatening.  Starting with Super Mario 64, Boos emit a high-pitched giggle when Mario's around.

You'll find Boos sometimes hanging out in haunted house levels in the Super Mario games, such as the Ghost Houses in Super Mario World, where you'll find large swarms of them floating around.  Another notable location is Big Boo's Haunt in Super Mario 64, which has a surprisingly creepy atmosphere and humorous enemies such as haunted pianos and books.  Here you'll even get a chance to do battle with Big Boo himself, who is literally a big Boo (he easily dwarfs Mario).

Big Boo pursues Mario.

Despite being malicious ghosts, Boos are actually pretty shy.  Anytime Mario looks a Boo directly in the face, it will cover its eyes and go invisible.  However, as soon as Mario turns his back on it, the Boo will reappear and begin to pursue him.  Naturally a good strategy when riding floating platforms is to always have Mario face as many Boos as possible.

Boos definitely pose a challenge in Mario games, due to their tendency to hide when you try to attack them head-on.  Also they almost always will gang up on Mario by attacking from different angles, making it difficult and sometimes impossible to stare them all down at once.  Still, they are a refreshing enemy to face every once in a while, when you need a break from beating down countless Goombas and Koopas.  Sure they aren't a scary enemy, but they have that Nintendo charm that we all know and love.

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The Planes of Oblivion in The Elder Scrolls IV

Today we're going to look at an in-game location that is as close to Hell as you're going to get without playing Doom 3.  I'm talking about the Planes of Oblivion in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.  In this game the main threat is an invasion of horrifying monsters from the realms of the lava-filled Oblivion.  The monsters are able to teleport to the land of Tamriel through the use of huge "Oblivion Gates" which appear in numerous locations throughout the land.  Of course these gates work both ways, allowing you to enter the Planes of Oblivion, and face the horrors within.

An Oblivion Gate.  Sauron would be proud.

The Planes of Oblivion are a sight to behold; it is truly a hellish atmosphere.  The sky is blood red, and filled with gray and black clouds which are fitting for a world that seems to be constantly burning.  You'll encounter pools of lava, as well as seemingly endless oceans of lava (so much for taking a nice cool swim).

The equivalent of a five-star hotel in Oblivion.

As you can probably guess, with an atmosphere like this you aren't going to see vast expanses of green foliage.  In fact, during your visits to these locations you'll see bare rocky cliffs and plains.  The only plants that seem to grow here are some skeletal-looking shrubs, along with some sickly vines that almost look to be dead.  Some of these plants appear to be sentient, and just as evil as their surroundings; they will snap at you if you get within striking distance.

Probably should keep your distance from these.

The few varieties of Daedra and Dremora enemies that have escaped through the Oblivion gates into Tamriel are obviously abundant in their home-realm of Oblivion.  As if dealing with sentient plants and armor-melting lava weren't enough, you'll need to battle plenty of large monstrosities during your visits, such as the dreaded half-human, half-spider Daedra.

And you thought Zelda's Skulltulas were a problem.

There's just no escaping them, unless you've cooked up some really good invisibility potions.  You'll need to ascend the interiors of gigantic towers filled with these horrors if you hope to escape back to the land of Tamriel.  At the top of a certain tower in each area of Oblivion, there is a Sigil Stone that you must steal, which will close the portal and teleport you back to your home-world.

As an added bonus, on your way up these towers you'll be able to grab some loot from large sacks of flesh hanging from the roof, as well as large heart-shaped (closer to a human heart than a Valentine's Day heart) containers called The Punished.  I don't think we even want to know the details of the "punishment."

Go ahead, just reach right in and grab the gold.

Sounds like a pleasant place to take a vacation doesn't it?  That wraps up our quick look at the Elder Scrolls version of Hell.  It's scorching, it's dangerous, and it is most definitely disgusting.  Did you guys play The Elder Scrolls IV?  If so, what did you think of these journeys into Oblivion?

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The Enderman in Minecraft: Disturbing Block Thieves

It's time for a nighttime trek into the world of Minecraft, to behold another of its horrors.  As you all know, this game world is extremely punishing if you decide to venture beyond the confines of your well-lit, well-fortified safe zone.  With that said let's carefully observe the most unsettling creature in the game: the Enderman.

The zombies, spiders, and skeletons in Minecraft aren't very threatening to look at, but it seems that special effort went into the Endermen to make them look pretty disturbing and creepy.  Their extremely long and thin limbs look alien in appearance, but rumor has it that they are based off of Slenderman.  Due to their pitch black skin, their large white expressionless eyes stand out like a sore thumb at nighttime.  Also, they tend to make a disgusting gurgling noise while they stroll about.

Unlike the other enemy types in the game, Endermen are not openly hostile.  They will go about their business while you stand a mere couple feet away.  Make no mistake though, these creatures aren't like the passive animals in the game (cows, sheep, pigs, etc), they can be provoked, and they will attack.  There are a couple ways to provoke an Enderman.  First and most obvious, you attack it first.  Secondly, if you stare at it, the Enderman will start shaking in anger.  Continue to stare and he will charge at you and begin to take swings at your face.

This is not going to end well.

You most definitely do not want this to happen, because in addition to a devastatingly strong melee attack, Endermen are capable of teleporting.  During an assault they may vanish for a few seconds, only to teleport directly behind you in order to score another brutal hit (believe it or not this is actually pretty scary).

So with that said, why would you want to attack one of these mostly-peaceful creatures?  Well remember when I said they will mind their own business if you leave them alone?  Their business includes picking up blocks and placing them at random locations.  Sometimes they will teleport into your safe area and proceed to pull pieces out of the structures you spent so much time building.  This I find to be incredibly annoying, and I will attack any Enderman foolish enough to start messing with my wood-plank houses (hey at least I don't build my houses out of dirt blocks anymore!).

Can't they just leave things alone?

That wraps up our quick look at the Enderman, how do you guys deal with this creature?  Do you let it disassemble your buildings?

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Skulltulas in Zelda Games: Webs of Horror

Leave it to the creators of the Legend of Zelda games to marry two things that freak people out: spiders and human skulls.  What do you get when you combine those?  Skulltulas of course!  Let's take a look at this monstrous arachnid's appearances in some of the Zelda games.

The reason these spiders are called Skulltulas is because they tend to have a human skull-shaped pattern covering their backside.  They can range in size from small dog to holy-hell-it's-bigger-than-a-horse.  One thing they all have in common though is a taste for human flesh, since they will ruthlessly attack Link whenever he's in the area.

In Ocarina of Time, there are a few varieties of Skulltula to encounter.  These Skulltulas have an incredibly pronounced human skull pattern on their back, complete with gaping eye sockets and even a hole where the nose would go.  It's almost as if someone glued a Halloween mask to their backs.

The largest breed of this spider is more massive than adult Link.  It hangs from the ceiling and will drop down in a surprise attack once you get within range.  After it has lowered down on its web, this Skulltula will execute a spin attack if Link gets too close while facing the spider's back (the easiest way to defeat it is to slash at its exposed belly).

Smaller varieties in this game are the Skullwalltula and Gold Skulltula.  Skullwalltulas usually hang out in areas where Link has to climb, clinging to vines and rock walls.  If Link gets too close, this spider will charge at him and knock him off the climbable surface.

Gold Skulltulas are more docile, but will still cause damage to Link if he touches it.  Defeating this breed of spider will enable Link to help a family in Kakariko Village who were cursed and transformed into human-Skulltula hybrids (yes it's as horrifying as it sounds).  As you collect Gold Skulltula tokens, the family members will turn back into humans one by one.

Skulltulas also make an appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.  As Link travels the land in his train, there are certain sections of the map where these spiders will drop down and hang right over the tracks.  They will proceed to swing back and forth over the tracks, making for a somewhat challenging target to hit with the train's cannon, especially when you're moving at top speed.  Like their counterparts in Ocarina of Time, these Skulltulas are huge, easily as big as the train itself, and contain pretty much the same skull pattern on their backs.

In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, our favorite arachnids once again show up for combat, but in a form we aren't used to.  Unlike the previous two games we just discussed, where this enemy primarily hangs from webs or climbs on walls, the Twilight Princess Skulltulas are capable of walking on the ground.  This makes them a much more dangerous enemy since they aren't limited to staying in one small area like we're used to seeing.

A Skulltula lowering onto the battlefield.

Also the pattern on their backs is much less pronounced, appearing as if someone took some face paint and tried to draw a vague skull-like face on them.  As a matter of fact, when I played through this game I didn't even recognize them as Skulltulas for a while because of these differences (when they walk on the ground it's actually kind of hard to even see the pattern on their backs).

That about wraps up our quick look at this shudder-inducing enemy in the Zelda games.  Did any variant of Skulltula give you the creeps?

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Team Fortress 2 Halloween Events: Spooktacular Fragging

Every October, Valve Software gives a special treat to all the gamers who love the spirit of Halloween.  This treat is the annual Team Fortress 2 Halloween event.  I must say, whether you love Valve or hate them, you have to admire the fact that they're still supporting TF2 all these years after its 2007 release date.  So let's dive in and look at all the awesome features of this event.

Back in 2009, Valve initiated their first Halloween event in TF2.  They released a new king of the hill map called Harvest, as well as a Halloween-themed counterpart called Harvest Event.  The event map is set at nighttime with various visual touches to get you into the Halloween spirit.  These include jack-o-lanterns scattered around the map, tombstones, and re-skinned health kits which are now represented by candies and cauldrons.

Also placed around the map are pumpkins with sticks of dynamite strapped to them, which will explode when shot.  The highlight of Harvest Event is its resident ghost, which spawns at various locations on the map and slowly wanders around.  If you venture too close to it, your character will shriek in fear and will be unable to attack for a few seconds, leaving you vulnerable.

The ghost freaks out the Demoman.

After the inaugural 2009 event, the TF2 Halloween specials have become more elaborate with many more new features.  Each year Valve will either release a pair of maps (one standard map, along with its Halloween-themed counterpart), or they will give a standard map a complete Halloween makeover.  One notable case is Mann Manor, which is an extremely detailed counterpart of Mountain Lab, complete with spooky library sections, dark holes with creepy eyes peering out at you, and hair-raising noises throughout.

Mann Manor.

Instead of a simple ghost wandering around, all Halloween events after 2009 have introduced boss monsters which will spawn at various intervals.  Notable bosses include a gigantic floating eyeball which fires missiles, and the Horseless Headless Horsemann (Valve's humor at its finest), who runs around the map swinging a giant axe.

These monsters contain huge amounts of HP and will attack all the players on the server, therefore the best way to defeat them is for both teams to (temporarily) put aside their differences and work together to take down the boss.  Defeating these bosses will give players a special item, such as the Horseless Headless Horsemann's head (makes no sense but that's the whole point), which is a wearable hat.

Speaking of items, there are quite a few Halloween-specific goodies to grab.  Through random gift drops you'll be able to pick up Halloween masks (really just paper bags with a TF2 character's face drawn on it), worn-out top hats, and even class-specific Halloween costumes.  Costumes must be collected piece by piece, but once you complete a set you're usually rewarded with humorous results.  For example, the Engineer has a costume resembling a giant fly, which causes his voice to sound extremely high pitched.  The Soldier's robot costume unlocks a whole new set of voice commands, as well as a new robot-dance taunt.

Speaking of dancing, what would Halloween be without Thriller?  The developers at Valve were awesome enough to give a special Thriller dance taunt to all classes, which can only be used when the Halloween events are active.


Last but not least, a recent addition to Team Fortress 2's Halloween festivities is Zombie Fortress, which is a set of new game modes that will have players controlling both regular classes and zombies, depending on their team.  I guess Valve wasn't satisfied with just Left 4 Dead?

If you're a fan of Halloween and online first-person shooters, you should absolutely check out Team Fortress 2 when this special event occurs.  The game is free after all.  The nicely themed maps and intense boss battles are something to behold, and we can only hope that Valve continues this tradition for years to come!

Have you guys tried out the TF2 Halloween events?  If so, which one was your favorite?

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Count Batula: Conker the Squirrel Meets Dracula

It seems I can't stop talking about Conker's Bad Fur Day.  The game contains such a diverse set of parodies that you can't help but find one or two levels that you will remember forever.  Seeing as this is the month of October, let's take a look at the chapter of the game called Spooky, and its main antagonist: Count Batula.

Well, Grabbed by the Ghoulies had a vampire chicken, so why not a vampire squirrel in Bad Fur Day?

The chapter starts off with Conker taking a nighttime stroll and encountering Gregg the Grim Reaper.  There's a brief conversation involving zombies, which Gregg hates worse than cats because they are undead, apparently some kind of insult due to his job occupation as a reaper.  Gregg then gives Conker a shotgun and directs him to a zombie-filled graveyard, motivating the ever-greedy Conker by telling him he has a rich relative in the area (he neglected to say anything about that relative being a vampire though).

Yet another game with zombies in it.

After battling through the graveyard, Conker approaches a spooky mansion sitting in solitude at the top of a hill.  This is none other than the lair of Count Batula, where the Dracula parodies are in abundance.  Once Conker enters the mansion, we see Batula for the first time, slowly descending the grand staircase while welcoming Conker (and creeping him out a bit).  Batula has the stereotypical Dracula voice, complete with pronouncing his W's as V's ("Velcome to my house").  Conker humorously takes a couple cheap shots at the vampire's appearance, even sarcastically complimenting him on his hairstyle.  Despite this, Batula invites Conker in for dinner, giving him a tour of the mansion on the way.

While Conker is enjoying his dinner of chicken and wine (which allowed the game to use the famous "I don't drink....wine" line from Dracula films), Batula tells Conker how long he has lived in the mansion (around 300 years), causing Conker to get even more suspicious of this character.  The conversation is cut short by an unexpected attack on the mansion by the nearby villagers.  It is at this point that Batula reveals that he planned to kill Conker and drink his blood, but due to the circumstances he now needs Conker's help.

Batula proceeds to bite Conker, which turns him into a vampire bat.  As Bat-Conker, you get to fly throughout the various rooms in the mansion, picking up the attacking villagers one-by-one (after stunning them by dumping bat-droppings on them), and taking them to Batula's feeding room.  It is here that Bat-Conker has to drop the villagers into a gigantic meat grinder, which processes the villagers and dispenses the blood into an eager Batula.

Bat-Conker prepares to slaughter some villagers.

Batula happens to be hanging right over the meat grinder, and the more villagers he is fed, the fatter he gets.  When he's fed too much blood, his weight overcomes the strength of his perch, and Batula drops into the grinder, putting an end to one of the best parody characters in the game.

So what did you guys think of this chapter of Bad Fur Day?  Did you enjoy the Dracula parody?

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