Spoilers for Deadspace 2 ahead.

There have been several locations in recent years that are worthy of mentioning. There are for example batshit crazy Hell in Shadows of the Damned and Borderland's Pandora. Of course Rapture comes to mind, as well. And not to forget the Minecraft world. Further there are AC Brotherhood's Roma and most recent Skyrim but the one location in the last few years that had the most impact on me was the USG Ishimura in Deadspace 2.

It's been three years since shit hit the fan on the Ishimura and protagonist Isaac Clarke found himself in Deadspace 1 battling the Necromorphs. Now he finds himself on the gigantic space station The Sprawl (Revuhlooshun wrote something about it, go read it) in a fight for survival. When you get to Chapter 10 – the Ishimura – , he has already been betrayed, shot at, pursued by gigantic alien monstrosities, met the annoyingly well-crafted Stalkers and frickin' exploding babies. Also, he found companions and is on his way out with some kind of tram. Of course there happens stuff and the way gets blocked. Fortunately the needed gravity tether is near, unfortunately it is on board of docked Planet Cracker USG Ishimura.
As many of you will be very aware, the Ishimura is the location where most of Deadspace 1 took place and it is not a nice place. Whole crew got crazy, slaughtered, turned into Necromorphs, that stuff, and Isaac – the player – right in the middle.



My initial reaction upon hearing of going back to that place was this. Followed by "Fuck, they can't do that to me. I don't want to go there, I don't want to be there." Further followed by crying like a little girl (exaggerated for dramatic purposes). At this point the game gets extraordinarily quiet, almost contemplative. There is a longer wagon ride before you enter the ship and you are still only digesting the fact that you are on your way to the ship where everything began and I for one started to feel very uneasy.
This is also mirrored by Isaac whose nervousness and worry become apparent in a short dialogue he has with his companion, Ellie.
At this point, my expectations were running wild. Upon opening the door I expected to be greeted by a clusterfuck of dead bodies, alien masses, a general USG Horrorzone...



but none of that happened.
Instead, white plastic sheets covering walls and furniture, flickering lights and tools lying around like on a construction site. Mildly said, I was perplexed. This totally took me by surprise. You might find this harmless now but I was the exact opposite of becalmed.
Once I entered the ship I immediately fell into some sort of shell shock. This was very deviously and crafty reinforced by the fact that you re-enter the Ishimura the exact same way you used in Deadspace 1.

Of course, I had to head deeper into the ship, another dialogue mirroring my feelings:
Ellie: "Is it safe?"
Isaac: "I don't know how it could be."

What followed were the same corridors I traversed in Deadspace 1, difference being that not everything is covered in fleshy alien goo but in white plastic. The atmosphere is not really sterile, more like eerie. Too quiet to be good. I was in the belly of the best, expecting the worst around every corner but the game didn't do me that favor. I was being boiled in my own fear of the place.
I mentioned above that I went into a kind of shell shock and I want to explain what I mean by that. I actually sprinted in DS2. The game is a bit more fast-paced and actiony than the first one, so it struck me not as really fatal to use it (and I started the game on Hard). In DS1 I never sprinted, except when I had to run away from something. The game had a pretty looming and oppressive atmosphere which caused me to round corners slowly in aim mode, nearly all the time.
So, when I entered the Ishimura again in DS2 it all came back to me and I immediately ceased every possible sprinty action and again started to tread carefully through the corridors in fear of encountering something and...



I didn't. Well, at least not for some time. My mind was totally fucking me over. Wild expectations made me proceed cowardly slow through the ship, just because the setting alone had become so "good" food for fantasy.

Another thing that connected this place to the horror from DS1 were some hallucinations Isaac – and the player – had. A tentacle that seemed to grab him, or a Brute that punched a bypassed window happened before. These were effective additions for the atmosphere along with creepy whispering, disturbing audiologs and the occasional Nicole tidbit, making the place only more menacing and unpredictable.

On my way through the ship something went wrong and I had to go through the Medical Deck.


"At, least you don't have to go through the Medical deck." – "Welcome to the Medical Deck."

There another nice surprise was waiting for me. The whole place was only dimly lit by UV light which revealed – finally – blood everywhere. Messages written in blood and general bloodiness were glowing on walls and floors.
Though graphically and atmospherically impressive and "pleasing" at this point the chapter got more like a normal Deadspace 2 level. The first half or so was what made this chapter so great, though.

The Ishimura was just a place, a level in a videogame but the notion of it sufficed to put horrible thoughts and expectations in my head which were perfectly reinforced by the opposite nature that greeted me when venturing into the ship. Only because I experienced constant dread in this location before in another game. The mere mention of entering the Planet Cracker again was enough to make me feel unwell, in a good way ultimately.
For me it was the most clever designed location in the last few years, dickmove and masterstroke in one.

NOBUO UEMATSU, godfather of awesome


Hello, fellow Dtoiders. Good news everyone!
Last year I shortblogged about an event called Symphonic Legends, an orchestral performance of classic Nintendo-based themes ranging from Mario and Metroid games to the major part, Legend of Zelda. You can listen to the performance on Youtube.


This Saturday the next concert in the "Symphonic" series takes place, Symphonic Odysseys: A tribute to Nobuo Uematsu.
Several songs of Uematsu newly arranged and performed by the experienced WDR Rundfunk Orchestra which already delivered the four superb predecessors of “Odysseys”. Performed for Nobuo Uematsu, of course! Yes, the maestro himself will attend the two performances (the first in the afternoon, the second one in the evening) and also hold signing events before each concert. Also, this time the orchestra is performing for me, as well, and for 3999 other people. Yes, you heard right, I got tickets for the afternoon performance (naturally I will wear my Destructoid tshirt to, you know, REPRESENT) and I am psyched. I always had much love for Uematsu’s work, especially in the Final Fantasy games. Not many songs are that incredible and memorable.

The concert will feature music from Lost Odyssey, Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger etc but take a look for yourself at the program.



Currently I am missing pieces from Final Fantasy VII to IX but I am hopefully that some of them will appear in the Encore.

The event will take place in Cologne, Germany. A city you might be familiar with due to the GamesCom. But don’t fret. Although you most likely aren't living in Germany and near Cologne there's no reason to be sad. Because I deliver the Lifestream (pun intended)!
At Saturday, the 9th of July, 8 pm CENTRAL EUROPEAN SUMMER TIME the stream will be available on this site:
Symphonic Odysseys


Have fun!

On another note: I am willing to write a city guide for Cologne for all the community and staff members that are going to attend GamesCom (I know you're working but hey, once you're here you should celebrate a bit). Since Cologne is my hometown I think I could good give advice on some things as club scene, bar scene, comic shops, cinemas, gay bars, concerts, restaurants, sightseeing, you fucking name it and I'll try to come up with something good. Anyone of you interested?

Hello, fellow Dtoiders. In the context of a creative writing class I thought I could finally get some introductory blog up in this bitch.

Well then, let's pop this fucker in. Power on.
Day X.XX.1985. The world lies in ruin. Just a small ray of hope penetrates the dark clouds.
Title screen. New Game. Parents, please enter the name of the protagonist. "D.A.W *whoops* ← *delete* V.I.D". DAVID, please confirm. So it begins. Spawning point Cologne, Germany.
Do you want to play the tutorial level? Yes, I wanna do that. Okay, let's go. You start with one twelfth of a heart, try not to die, you only have one life. Oookay...

After absolving the first part of the tutorial our hero – he has now two hearts – has learned to walk, has begun to talk and stopped shitting himself.
-TROPHY UNLOCKED: About damn time!-


So, the hero ventured forth through the rest of the tutorial like it's kindergarten. Once he accumulated six hearts he entered the first dungeon the elementary temple. There he faced many perils, yet he was not helpless. Right before his departure his father had taken him aside and told him "Oh, boy, oh, boy. It is dangerous to go alone. Take this." and handed him a GameBoy with Tetris and Super Mario Land.
-TROPHY UNLOCKED: Hooked!-


Not quite


Obviously this new tool had to be mastered by the hero, so he spent several years honing his skills with this fascinating machine. His family, his most loyal ally on his quest, supplied him from time to time with new modules, for example Quarth, Alleyway, Pokemon Red, Super Mario Land 2, Warioland, Empire strikes back, Return of the Jedi and many more. Sure, he struggled with some of them but in the end he bested them all – except one but more on that later - and grew stronger and stronger. Amazed by the challenge the games presented there was no road trip, no train ride and no boring sunday afternoon at the grandparent's place without GameBoy.

This was the source of his interest in gaming. At this point gaming culture still meant nothing to him, he didn't even bother with magazines about games. Still there was something more in him, like a hunger for things he didn't even know yet.
He gained further knowledge about games and things called consoles from friends traversing the dungeon and overworld. When he was at their places or looking for potions in a department store with demo consoles he would sometimes play Super Nintendo but it wasn't until he sported eleven hearts and entered the next difficult dungeon that he heard of the magical artifact called PlayStation.
Ecstatic about new stories and ideas to experience he summoned his allies to help him get this artifact. Shortly after he gained his twelfth heart he could call a PlayStation his own. First games: Cool Boarders 2, Broken Sword 2 and a load of demo Cds.
Great games followed. Along came characters bringing with them rich stories, tense atmospheres, fun gameplay, folks like Solid Snake, Brian Fury and Lei Wulong, Dan Fortesque, Aya Brea, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Ryu (the one from BoF), Crash, Spyro, Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Abe, Justin and Feena to name a few.
That being said, our hero was not of the sequestered kind. He loved (and still loves) gaming with friends. Crash Team Racing, Bishi Bashi Special et alii were (and are) pretty big in his party of compadres.
To further explore new training methods the hero travelled through the world, through multiple worlds to be precise. On this journey he learned from the best. The sage Tellah taught him about Banjo-Kazooie and Ocarina of Time. Further he was schooled in Insult Swordfighting by Eric the Swift, Baleog the Fierce and Olaf the Stout. He even succeeded to rescue a shit ton of Lemmings on the way to Baldur's Gate. So he ended up harnessing an almost unholy fusion of PlayStation, PC and N64.
-TROPHY UNLOCKED: Three-Headed Lombax!-




Leaving behind the second biggest monkey head David had ever seen, he wandered the lands until he had gained four more hearts. While grinding in a side-dungeon he stumbled upon the biggest treasure he had found up until then. It was an elegant black box. After thorough inspection it became clear that it was a better version of the PlayStation.
What he found with the help of the black box was sheer impressive. The power to control the sands of time; with this power he could even make the devil cry. Not long after that he started a band with two friends to alleviate the burden every adventurer carries. Playing the bass for some time his instrument suddenly mutated into a smaller, red plastic version. Stunned with disbelief he tried to use the plastic thing with the new PlayStation. The ground started shaking around him and lightning filled his eyes. In the same instance he knew he had become a legend of rock. With the power of rock he could defeat his next enemy, the god of war Dark Adonis.
-TROPHY UNLOCKED: Time to split!-


He looted the body and moved on. On his way David found two more artifacts, a GameCube and finally, FINALLY a Super Nintendo. Both of which broadened his fisherman's horizon even further.
On his journey, one sidequest was particularly important for the hero, namely the discovery of the magical land of Destructoid.
How the hero found his way here is quite an adventure. It started with frequenting the social network Myspace. There our protagonist was mostly interested in independent music acts. On one fateful day he discovered some grindcore band which despite less than mediocre music awakened his short time interest with songs like "Pope mobile drive by" and "Bringing invisiblity to a gun fight" (two of the harmless titles). Well, then he saw that some hot chick with red dyed hair posted a comment on the band's page. Making his babysteps in cyberstalking he visited her profile to check her out and saw something hitting home concerning his humour: A webcomic from Cyanide and Happiness. After becoming totally hooked on the comic (and later on webcomics in general) he joined a "Cyanide and Happiness" group in another social network. In that group some guy organized a centralized buying of C&H t-shirts. David was checking out the Splitreason store for a shirt when something caught his eye. It was a name, Destructoid. And when he saw a t-shirt with a dandy looking robot dude exclaiming "STFUAJPG!" there was no return.
Curious of nature the hero asked the wise man Google to find out what this magical word meant. And Google led him to the best place in the interwebs. Period.
-TROPHY UNLOCKED: MADE US WHOLE!-


My sis and me, some time ago

Several levels later, present day. The health meter shows 25 hearts, several stats are maxed, Omnislash and Heartbreaker are learned. Our hero achieved Master form. Through meditation, asceticism and a moonstone the PlayStation2 evolved into a PlayStation3. This is the current training ground of the hero where he uses all of his experience to go even further, over the edge, to uncharted regions, through a crack in time, across the vast, dead space ocean to little big planets.
-TROPHY UNLOCKED: Kaiser form!-


Hi, guys, story’s over. Hope you didn’t get bored.
The main reason why I want to get into blogging in general is to preserve and develop my English language skills. Destructoid in particular, of course, because of my interest in gaming and gaming culture. When I started reading Destructoid on the 26th November of 2007 (yep, I know the exact date, beat that) I was quite impressed by the cultural and sometimes even philosophical approach to videogames. Two series I really loved were “The Fear” and “The Memory Card”, because I could relate to some of these experiences.
In the last year I began to pay more attention to the community aspect of Destructoid and read the C-Blogs frequently. I liked what I saw and now I’m here. Let’s see where this leads.

Well, what’s left to say? Maybe a list of some favs and current games.

Some of my favourites:
God of War 2, Devil May Cry 3, Timesplitters 3, Uncharted 2, Mirrors Edge, Chrono Trigger, FF VII – IX, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, Shadow Hearts 2 and 3, Guitar Hero 2 and 3

Currently playing:
Deadspace 2, Minecraft, Little Big Planet 2, Demons Souls, Empire strikes back (yeah, the one I mentioned above. I never finished this piece in thirteen years or so! This game is so hard and unforgiving that, well, it’s hard as fuck!! BUT I got my GameBoy out again for long train rides and I still want to finish that little bitch.)


-TROPHY UNLOCKED: Also, cocks!-

-UPDATE: Just started, guys! -

Heya, ladoids and gentletoids.

I still didn't manage to do proper Introblog but that shouldn't keep me from getting this fine news to you.

Tomorrow on September 23 at 8 PM (UTC/GMT+2) you can witness a livestream from a concert in Cologne. Clou is that the music is taken from classic Nintendo games such as Lylat Wars, Metroid, Donkey Kong Country Legend of Zelda et alii.
The songs are played by the radio WDR related orchestra and the conductor will be Niklas Willen from Stockholm.
This event is seemingly the third of that kind to happen with the predecessors "Symphonic Shades (2008)" and "Symphonic Fantasies (2009, with Songs from Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross), which both can be purchased on the site below.

Where the the magic will happen
http://www.symphoniclegends.com/

The magic that will happen
http://www.symphoniclegends.com/SymphonicLegends_ProgrammOnlineSheet.pdf


As a small appetizer, a practice session for the opening song "Fanfare for the Common 8-bit Hero"




I surely know what I am doing at that time. Hope you all enjoy!

Hey, folks.
This is my first post and unfortunately it's not very special, witty etc. I just saw that the two soundtracks which are coming with the GoW3-Ultimate-Edition (some download code mumbo jumbo) are free to download right now. Dunno, if this is intended or not. Just wanted to let you know.

Links:

http://www.godofwar.com/ucmdev/groups/public/documents/webasset/g3_trilogy_soundtrack.zip

http://www.godofwar.com/ucmdev/groups/public/documents/webasset/g3_blood_and_metal.zip