Board Game Review: Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game

Continuing with the Halloween spirit of things I have decided to review the board game, Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game by Flying Frog Productions.

Now besides of course the Zombie theme we have going on here what makes this game really relevant to a movie site and horror movie fans is the fact the makers of this game hired real actors/actresses for the for their characters and scenes on their cards. The makers did their best to make this a board game that captured a Horror Movie feel and look in their artwork. If you have seen any movies from the early 90's such as the Faculty this kind of the feel you will get from the visuals. Which really does a great job of pulling you into the theme of the game.

Now let's talk about the game itself and how the mechanics play out and the games fun factor. Last Night on Earth is again a Modular board game. Meaning, the board you play on each time will be different. At the start of the game the board is randomly generated by placing the center tile then each player randomly picking a L-shaped tile to fit around the center one. These will include buildings and locations in them. So again you will have a variety in each game that you play. In each of these locations you can search and try to find items etc.

Next lets talk about the Characters. The game comes with several different characters you can choose/randomly pick from. The characters range from the local sheriff, the mysterious hobo, an FBI agent, a news reporter, a priest, and several "student" characters such as the jock, prom queen, track star and a farm girl. Each of these characters have some sort of special ability, a certain amount of health, and sometimes certain equipment they can start with. For example the Prom Queen has the ability to try and hide from the zombies and all student character can forgo their movement/action to heal a wound. The Sheriff gets to start the game with a pistol and so on. All characters move by rolling a 6 sided die and moving that number of spaces.

Now what is the goal of the game you may ask...just kill zombies? Well yes...and no. The game comes with several Scenarios that detail what the zombies have to accomplish to win and what the heroes have to accomplish to win. The intro Scenario that comes with the game is a straightforward intro for the players. They have to kill 15 zombies before sun-up or it's game over. the Zombies either kill so many heroes or just don't lose 15 zombies. Other Scenarios include defending a house where the heroes are holed up, or another one includes burning it down. One includes escaping the town by truck but you have to find gas and the keys to get out. So in the base game there is plenty of fun to be had.

To fight the zombies the heroes roll two 6 sided die to a zombies one...if the the hero rolls higher than the zombie..they FEND of the zombie but not kill it. If they roll doubles, they kill the zombie. If the zombie ties or rolls higher than the hero, they inflict a wound on the hero. As you can see it is easier to fend off a zombie than it is to kill it. However there are items in the game you can find in the game that can give you extra die to roll as you attack to increase your chances to kill a zombie. And some of the items are very funny ranging a pitchfork, chainsaw, crowbars, etc. All with specific things they let you do. You can even use gasoline to blow their asses up.

Now, what makes the game a winner other than, just being about killing zombies? Well...some of the players can actually take on the role of BEING the zombies! The game is best played with about 5 players. With 3 being heroes and two being Zombies. You basically have teams. The game uses a card system that has a deck for heroes and a deck for zombies. For the Heroes the cards they find range from items to event cards etc. Some of the events will be in form helping them out of sticky situations. Such as if the hero would take a wound there is a card called "Just a Scratch" which basically negates a wound just received. Other include giving the hero an extra die to attack with for a turn or escaping out of buildings etc.

The Zombies on the other hand get to draw cards every turn that are really designed to give the heroes a BAD day...these cards are the ones that really lend to the movie theme and you can see how they would lend to scenes in a movie. One good example is there is a card called "Locked Door" that is played on the Heroes turn as they move. It's best played when when a hero is trying to leave a building that is infested with zombies as they roll their die and proceed to move out a doorway one of the zombie players plays the card to essentially make the the door locked and ending their turn trapped inside the building with zombies closing in...brain food is served!

Zombies have other cards that can wreck havoc such as the "Trip" card making the player re-roll their movement die or "Shamble" that allows the zombie player to pick a zombie to move 1-6 spaces instead of their usual 1.

It's this mechanic of players being able to be both Zombies and heroes that sets the game up and above. It makes for a great teamwork games and "OH SHIT" moments. If you want to play a game that lets you feel like you are in a Horror movie and have a fun time this is a great game for you. The game comes with great components..it has miniatures for both the zombies and heroes. It even has components that allow the players to design their own scenarios to give the game extra life and replay value.

Flying Frog has also released several expansions(The Growing Hunger and Timber Peak coming soon) for the game and little add on scenarios you can order from their website. They support their games well and you will have no shortage of fun with this game. The game is fairly easy to learn to play despite all the things that come with it which is also a big plus. This is another aspect Flying Frog does well..they make their games very accessible for ease of play unlike some other game companies. The game comes very reasonably priced and you can find it from online vendors for about $35.

I highly highly recommend this game as it's very fun and great to play with a group of friends on a Saturday evening in. VERY Solid.

Rating 10/10
http://www.flyingfrog.net/
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/29368/last-night-on-earth-the-zombie-game

Mood: Chillin'

Beauski at 09:30 AM Oct 08

I've got this one too, a lot of fun!

Betrayal at the House on the Hill Horror board Game

Ok since it is the Halloween season and I know everyone here is looking for something to do and mostly we all watch films and I know there are video game fans of the horror genre also. However, I think a overlooked medium for the genre that deserves a good look is table top board games. Since the dawn of the new century there have been some great companies come out with some stellar products that are both fun and innovative.

So I decided to review a a horror board game that I think most people here on MFC or horror fans I think could really sink their teeth into. The name of the game is Betrayal at the House on the Hill.

The game is what is called a modular board game, meaning that the board is constructed with tiles as you play the game. So no two games will the layout be the same which offers variety with each play.

The game is based on a group of characters, with various abilities, the players can choose or randomly draw at the beginning of play meeting in a House that has three levels, the main floor, upper floor and basement. Movement is based on dice rolls and when you enter a unexplored area of the house you pull a tile and place next to the room you just left from revealing a new area of the house. These rooms usually have effects that take place as you enter them whether they are an event, a item draw or an omen. Each category has a card deck to draw from detailing what the player needs to do. As more omens are revealed the more of a chance that Haunt will occur which is determined by die rolls and the number of omens already discovered.

When the haunt is revealed is where the games main draw comes from and makes this game a great game to play with a group of friends and have a good time. The game comes with two books..one for the heroes and one for the traitor. However no one knows who is what until the haunt is revealed. The way this works is that when the haunt occurs the players look in the players book and cross reference a table showing what room, what item, etc was involved when the haunt was revealed. This will also tell who the traitor is and what scenario to play out from the scenario booklet. The game has about 50 scenarios each involving a different type of story that can range anywhere from zombies, ghosts, the house falling on itself into an abyss, cultist rituals etc. Which is a great mechanic for those that like a nice story to their games. The player who is the traitor take his handbook and leaves the room and read what he must do to win and the players read their book for the scenario and see what they must accomplish to win. Once both parties are ready, the begin trying to complete their objective to win.

I have owned this game for a very long time and played with people who don't like board games and they have enjoyed it. It's an extremely fun game with a unique take on how to give the game replay value with all the scenarios, which are very diverse. The game is very easy to learn, quick to play and makes a good beer and pretzel game in a relaxed atmosphere for friends hanging out one evening. It is also relatively affordable, running about $35. Which in my opinion is a great value for all the variety it offers.

I have the first edition of the game which did have some logic errors in some of the scenarios but there is now a new edition out that actually has about 4 new scenarios plus rule corrections to help out with past errors. Also, Hasbro has a website with FAQ's to help with any questions.
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10547/betrayal-at-house-on-the-hill

I give the game a solid 9/10

Mood: Chillin'

MrsData at 01:28 PM Oct 06

Wow, this sounds like a blast. I've never played a horror board game before. Although it's been years since I've played one. My friend screwed me over when playing Clue. Total shenanigans on her part! lol

timmyd at 06:56 PM Oct 06

sweet , thanks for the lowdown My Friend , I'll definitely give it a look !!

Skullbone at 07:15 AM Oct 07

No problem. Hope for anyone who gives it a shot has a good time with it.

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Golgo 13 The Collection review

Ok about a week or so ago I reviewed the Anime Golgo 13 which centers around a hired assassin named Duke Togo, that is virtually unstoppable once he accepts a contract for a target. If he is coming after you..you are dead.

The movie was released in 1983 and based on a long running manga of the same name. In the former review I spoke of how the movie was a good example of a character study showcasing what a person would do to exact revenge if given the resources to do so and what they sacrifice in their humanity to do so.

The film also showcases the lethality of Golgo 13 but never really gives insight to the character.

Flash forward nearly 30 years and we are offered a 50 episode collection of 30 minutes stories picked from the history of the manga. Now the 1983 film was a nice introduction to Golgo 13 and seeing him action. These episodes offer a glimpse into, although the glimpse is murky at best at times, the man himself at times to maybe see his character or perhaps a lack there of.

The creators of this collection do such an excellent job of showcasing the lack of any emotion in Golgo 13 that when they DO show a reaction in him it makes seeing those moment just the more sweeter. and they do it in such subtle ways. The character rarely has much facial expression...but there will be instances when the creators will do something from a subtle widening of the eyes with a single note of a musical instrument that it has such a profound impact on seeing the reaction in Golgo 13 it makes watching the show that much more fun. Just because he doesn't do it often.

Also, during the run of the series there will be stories which will involve cases of where you kind of hope for a certain insight into the character Golgo 13 and they creators dangle just enough of carrot in front of your nose you feel like you can almost know what the character is thinking but still unsure. In some case Golgo is placed in circumstances where you really wonder if he is really as cold blooded or at least without some sort of "honor" and he is going to have to make a decision to show this. Usually this is met with a story saving device where a circumstance arises and the choice is taken out of his hands. UNTIL the very last episode..number 50. And I recommend you watch all 49 previous episodes first before skipping to this one. After seeing those and getting glimpses of how he reacts then seeing number 50 you will get your answers. This collection of episodes is one of the best of making a cartoon character almost seem like a actual person i kept coming bakc for more and was really intrigued by the stories.

Which brings me to another great showcase of the episodes. The stories are also all about how Golgo prepares and sets up his shots and you can tell the creators did a good job in making this a realistic portrayal of how to shoot a rifle.

Another great element you will see in the episodes is that Golgo 13 doesn't always take assignments to just assassinate. One of my favorite ones was the assignment he took from a disgraced violinist to humiliate his rival by not shooting the rival violinist...but to humiliate him while he is performing a complicated pieces of music by shooting a specific string on the violin to snap it at a specific moment.

The stories, since being taken from various points of the manga's history have been updated to current times in terms of the tech you will see in the shows etc.

Very creative story telling. Haha!

From a technical standpoint...compared to the 1983 movie these episodes blow it away in terms of visuals and looks. the animation is super smooth the artwork is crisp and nice and Golgo has never looked better.

Also, I have to again recommend listening to these in their original language and read subtitles. Due only to the fact to the voice actor of Golgo 13. He does such a wonderful job in conveying the character's detachment but yet professionalism it's uncanny.

Now be warned. Golgo 13 never loses, never misses and never dies. The movie from 1983 is the closest I have seen him come to dying and taking very serious injury. In many of these episodes you won't see this..until towards the very end where there a few episodes where he actually gets into serious trouble from various things.

Overall, if you like more of a realistic take on world events and assassin intrigue this would be for you. Some of the stories are better than what you will see in some movies or tv shows with real people.

you can easily find the episodes online to wactch from various sites and the episodes are 30 minutes each. When you get some time sit down and give Golgo 13 a watch I think anyone liking a good story, a strong male lead that is badass will enjoy it.

Mood: Angry

Anime movie review. The Professional: Golgo 13

Ok, so I have noticed that there isn't a lot of anime type stuff floating around MFC much so I decided to maybe on occasion write a review on some of the anime films or series I thought were worthy of discussion and review. I will preface this by saying, when I was younger I did try to get into the anime stuff but am by no means a hard core or avid fan. However, I have found there are ones that either, stand above the norm for me or are outright great in their storytelling.

I hope I can maybe divert some of MFC'ers to go check out a few of these anime films or series and maybe open up a new genre for you guys to check out. Also, I don't consider myself a great reviewer or writer so sorry if my writing style may seem a little flat.

The first movie I selected to review is titled The Professional: Golgo 13. A Movie I remember seeing in my college years and remembering fondly and thinking Golgo was such a badass. Let me start by first giving a little history of the character and Manga the film is based on. Golgo 13 is a manga that was first published in 1969 and happens to still be in production today making it the longest running manga ever. There have been Nintendo games made of the character and several arcade shooters. He has even been featured in commercial in Japan advertising for NEC and fishing line. So he is a pretty big cultural icon in Japan.

The stories center around a professional sniper named Duke Togo aka Golgo 13. The man is lethal, professional, never breaks a contract and a wholly amoral character that doesn't adhere to what is evil or good. He is also known to make impossible shots possible and never misses. Also, a distinguishing factor for Golgo 13 is that for his sniper rifle he chooses to use a modified M16 rifle to carry out his missions. There have even been airsoft guns modeled after the design.

So lets get to the movie and the meat of it!

The Professional Golgo 13 was released in 1983 and made available to more of a mass market in the early 90's. So going back and watching the movie you can tell how animation from then to what it is today has changed so much. Now I am not saying that the animation in Golgo 13 is bad but you can just tell what a change 30 years can make in something by technology in animation techniques.

So, the movie starts of with Golgo 13 driving to a remote lighthouse to setup to take out his target on a passing cruise liner. The target being the son and heir apparent of oil tycoon Leonard Dawson.

Golgo loads his M16 with a single shot, takes aim as the son is being handed over the company, and eliminates the target. The film then shifts to to some other targets Golgo has accepted to take out and the people he accepts the contracts from. One from a priest seeking revenge for a massacre of his family to another of taking out a former Nazi war criminal.

The intriguing part of these assignments is how Golgo 13 sets up his prey and his positions to make shots. Especially the one to take out the Nazi War Criminal.

As the movie goes on it become apparent that someone is following Golgo 13 and trying to eliminate him. Pulling from a wide range of resources such as the Pentagon, CIA and FBI. All of who send out their best men to try and eliminate Golgo 13. And some come very, very close and actually give Golgo 13 a run for his money.

The movie also isn't so much about following around a hired assassin to see him just "kill", so much as it is a character study into what would drive a person to hire such a person or try to eliminate him. It also shows just what such a person would sacrifice to try and make sure their goals are met and the effects of such actions on the people around them.

The movie does a good job of showing the horrible results of such actions and the scenarios of "Cause and Effect"

Now the film does have some drawbacks. Part of this being it was released in 1983 and as such it is at times a product of its times in terms of social norms of the time. One of the most obvious of these is When Golgo 13 becomes romantically involved with women. He not only is a high trained assassin but also a very big hit with the ladies. But during some of these encounters the dialog is...well...it's bad. With one woman telling Golgo that she, "...has been waiting for him to softly and lovingly pull her trigger..." or some such corniness. Which I guess back in 1983 in films like the Bond films and such lines like that were normal.

Also, this is one of the first animated films to toy with Computer animation towards the end of the film. And when you see it..you may laugh...and it really doesn't help the film out. I don't really hold this against the film much though due to the time period and the technology available. But yeah...it's nothing to write home about.

The villains Golgo also has to go up against at times tend to be a little too over the top for a film that is supposed to be somewhat of a realistic movie. When you see them you'll know what I mean. But they aren't enough to draw away from the film.

I also know some anime purists do not like their films dubbed with English voice actors. For me...it has never been that much of an issue in anime for me. HOWEVER, back in 2009 or so a company released a two volume 50 episode catalog of Golgo 13 stories. Each 30 minutes long and they are modern day animations meaning they aren't back catalog episodes from 30 years ago. The voice actor for Golgo 13 in the non-English versions helps totally set the mood and tone for the character. The voice acting in the movie here is not bad..especially from all the other cast and even Golgo 13's voice actor is good...but just his tone and dialog makes the character seem more casual and human than in the modern episodes following the character.

Overall the movie is well done with still great animation. The story is well executed and really gives a look into the human psyche as to how far someone will go to seek revenge and the horrible consequences such actions can produce. The movie is violent, very blatant in the sexuality it shows and adult. Also, it's a good introduction to a character with a lot of history behind him but yet very little is known of him. If you like the film, I highly recommend checking out the 50 episodes released a few years back which are amazingly fantastic in showing glimpses into the mysterious character of Golgo 13, the set ups of his shots and just overall execution of good storytelling. In another blog I will review the episodes.

I hope you give The Professional: Golgo 13 a shot. The entire film is available on Youtube to watch so you really have nothing to lose but maybe an hour and a half of time.

Mood: Chillin'

timmyd at 03:52 PM Aug 22

Awesome , sounds like it could be a cool time . I'm not big on the Genre either but I have seen some very , very cool work . I'm giving this a shot .

YoshioKun13 at 03:53 PM Aug 22

Yeah, you're right there isn't a whole lot of anime postings around here. What's up with that?

Awesome write-up dude, this was the very 1st anime anything I ever saw! I had kinda heard about this "Japanese animation", but not familiar with it at all. Then I stumble into the ANIMATION section of my local Blockbuster video, and notice that it was separate from the KIDS area. Strange, because I thought all the cartoons would be in the family section. Precociously young & naive, that I was. So anyway, so many titles to choose from but one stuck out to me that I decided to pick.....that's right, GOLGO 13! It just looked cool, and I didn't know exactly what to expect but the sticker on the cover proclaiming "Not appropriate for kids under 17" surely should've been a tipoff!

So yeah, GOLGO 13 was my introduction to anime, and boy what an intro it was! Simply blew me away. Opened my eyes to the wonderful world of Japanese animation, the things it offered I yearned for that Disney simply could not give - blood, violence, nudity, profanity, mature storylines and character depth. It was friggin' awesome!

From that point on I was a die-hard anime fan ever since, and I've never looked back. I have GOLGO 13 to thank for that, and its importance in that role shall never be overlooked. I've been meaning to revisit the movie for awhile now, relive the roots of my anime fandom so to speak.

Thanks for the link!

@timmyd - Me thinks you shan't regret it! ;-)

Skullbone at 03:12 AM Aug 23

Thanks for the feedback guys. Hope you enjoy the flick timmyd. Let me know what you think.

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