Fairy Tale Spotlight: Second Sight [Video Game Review]

"Second Sight" is a video game developed by Free Radical Design. It was released in 2005. I sometimes think of this game as TimeSplitters 3 and a Half. It was made by the same team with an extremely similar animation style, but the gameplay itself is completely different.

Gone is the off-beat humor of the TimeSplitters games. Suddenly, we are thrust into the gritty world of psychics and ESP. You play as John Vattic, a man who is waking up with no memory, although he does seem to have some psychic abilities. As he tries to escape the facility, the game will occasionally transition back to his past where he slowly learns what led him to that point. That's the basic structure of the game's presentation.

If you pay very close attention to the present day segments of the game, you will begin to realize that you are killing a lot of innocent people who are just at their daily jobs. They are mostly security guards who aren't actually working for some evil organization. It actually kinda hurts when you realize you're doing this, but the game does deal with this in a very cool way later on... something that I refuse to spoil.

Your powers as a powerful psychic are as follows:

-Telekinesis: The ability to lift objects and people up with your mind. You can also throw switches at a distance. Super useful.

-Healing: The ability to heal yourself and others.

-Charm: The ability to convince people that you are not there. It can also be used to calm hysterical people down.

-Psi Pulse: This is an attack. You toss a forceful energy pulse at someone, sending them flying into a wall with enough impact to damage or kill them. You can also send out a blast wave that will knock multiple people down, but it's less powerful.

-Projection: My favorite. You can run around outside your body. You can also use it to posses other people and temporarily take over their bodies. It is a good way to do reconnaissance without putting yourself in danger.

You have to utilize these powers as well as the weapons in your arsenal to deal with the threats this game sends your way. One thing I dislike was that if you switch to one of your powers, he automatically holsters his gun. It is an annoyance you just have to get used to.

The presentation of the game is quite good, but it does sometimes come across as a bit video gamey. There was one scene where you were walking with a squad into enemy territory. One of your sharpshooters gets hit by a bullet--blood and everything. I was like, "Oh, god! He's dead or wounded!" But the game just sort of ignores that he ever got hit from that point on, treating it like a loss of HP rather than a real wound in battle. In mid-gameplay that sort of thing is okay... but in a cutscene?!

The game definitely borrows a lot of inspiration from Metal Gear Solid 2. It even lets you switch to a first person perspective, letting you do some fine aiming with your gun or your powers. The first person gun stuff definitely reminds me of the look of the TimeSplitters games, but you are not allowed to move around while in this mode. It very much feels like they just took the TimeSplitters engine and made a Metal Gear Solid game with it.

To be absolutely fair, this game is a bit janky. Also for those of us who prefer an inverted Y control scheme, they totally dropped the ball. I had to create my own mod in order to get it to play comfortably for me. The story, however, is one of the best ever told. They dropped all the silliness of the TimeSplitters games and made a really interesting and intriguing story. I was totally sold and enjoyed it right up until its fantastic twist ending.

Sadly, "Second Sight" is the last good game by Free Radical Design. Their next game was called "Haze," and it was a load of crap. It also destroyed their whole group. I won't be reviewing that one. I do easily recommend "Second Sight" though. They set out to make a serious game, and they succeeded. It might not be a perfect game, but it's good enough to enjoy.

By the way, if you want to play this one, it is available on Steam. It is the only game by Free Radical Design that is still publicly available. For some reason, the TimeSplitters games are just gone. Can't find them anywhere. It's really too bad.

This blog was written on July 24, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Warm [Short Story Review]

"Warm" is a short story written by Bob Strothers. It was published in 2012. A lot of the recent stories I have been reading have been coming from a magazine called "Down in the Dirt."  I gotta say... I have not really been enjoying them. They are either too politicized or pointless with hardly much of ending. I'm not asking for every story to inspire me; but I do want to feel like I was not wasting my time by the end.

"Warm" is just such a story. It's about a boy and his mother who become suddenly homeless. A whole lot of bad things happen to them, one after the other. The mother is arrested, and the boy ends up lost and alone with no one to turn to. It honestly just keeps getting worse, and it does feel a bit contrived to pull at the heartstrings. I worried that the whole story was going to be like this.

The whole tale has a direction problem. It jumps to a complete different character right towards the end and just barely manages to deal with the problem the boy has by the end of it. I won't spoil it though, not that there was a lot to spoil. The ending did not really resolve much, and it left me with a lot of questions as to the fate of everyone.

I have read tragic stories before. It is a very hard genre to write in. You have to strike a balance between showing the tragedy while regulating the mood and interest of the reader as you go. There also needs to be a concrete ending. I'm serious. Especially in tragic stories, you have to end it. It is one of the greatest disservices you can do to your reader if you pull them through the mire and then give them nothing. This story does that, and I don't recommend it.

This blog was written on July 22, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Shatterday [Short Story Review]

"Shatterday" is a short story written by Harlan Ellison. It was published in 1980. Interestingly, it was featured as the story in the very first episode of The Twilight Zone's 1985 reunion show. I have not seen it though.

So back in the olden days, we did not all have cellphones. We had regular telephones, and you had to remember the numbers for everyone important in your life. You especially had to remember your own phone number as well, so you could tell people how to contact you. This is a problem that people just don't have anymore with the advent of mobile contact lists.

One of the things that would often happen to people was that you might accidently dial your own home number when you meant to dial the number for someone else. It happened to me all the time when I was growing up. In the case of "Shatterday," the main character makes this very common mistake. He calls his own house... but to his surprise... he actually picks up the phone on the other end.

Both versions of this man are surprised by this supernatural occurrence, but it soon leads to them both trying to take control of their one life. This is a very hard thing to do when you both understand each other. That's not all this story has to offer though. You see, the original man who accidently made that call is kind of a shitbag. I know that sounds mean, but that's also kind of the point. His doppelganger is actually trying to fix his life and make it better. Interestingly enough... it's kind of working for him.

The story is not so much about running into yourself as it is with running into a darker (or lighter) version of you. The part of you that you might have been if you had made different decisions in life. For that reason, the battle is actually a matter of good versus evil. Whoever loses will end up fading away into nothing.

This is a great crossroads story! I was really impressed with it. There is a lot to learn from it, and it might make you think what you might have been like if you were a on the opposing side of the moral spectrum. I recommend the story. I love fiction that makes you turn the view inward. Introspection can be a good thing sometimes.

This blog was written on July 22, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Lady Killer [Short Story Review]

[Although the author is still active, I still spoil the story since it's a bit old. Avoid if you intend to look this one up.]

"Lady Killer" is a short story written by Donald C. White Jr. It was published in 2012. I know the guy who wrote this. He is a regular commenter on this blog (and he'll probably be replying to this one as well). That said, I won't be sugar coating anything in this review. I owe him that much.

The title of this story is appropriate. It's about a guy who murders women. This is plain and simple, and it is entirely from his perspective. But this perspective is presented in an almost comical manner. It comes across as childish at times, but at least he is consistent. The writing is good enough, but I found it hard not to giggle at some of his dramatic reactions to things. Just imagine a male killer who overdramatizes absolutely everything.

This was almost a reason not to like the story, but don't worry. It gets good and makes up for all of it. The real highlight of the story [and this is the big spoiler] is when you find out about the woman he murders. Well, that is to say... he didn't actually murder her. She was already dead... and a vampire. But wait; there's more!

She's apparently a vampire with a conscience. She only wants to feed on bad people. She's a killer hunter. She wanted him to try and murder her so she would have a clear conscience when she feeds on and murders him back! That is a very satisfying ending, and I totally took it seriously. Good stuff!

I do recommend "Lady Killer," although I can see why some people might have trouble getting past the silly drama that it opens up with. Absolutely forgivable once you get to the end. It actually makes all the perceptible bad writing seem good once you get to the end. I've read a few stories that were like that. It's kind of a rarity these days. Give this one a read if you're curious.

This blog was written on July 18, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes [Short Story Review]

[I do not spoil the ending of the story.]

"Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes" is a short story written by Harlan Ellison. It was published in 1967. This is a ghost story! I actually have not read hardly any ghost stories in my life. That is to say that I have read stories that have had ghosts in them, but they were not themed entirely around the ghost.

I'll just come out and say it. This is a story about a haunted slot machine at a casino. That's just what it is. And the man who plays it just keeps winning over and over again. That's the fantasy of it. Imagine if you had the angry ghost of a woman inside a slot machine who was messing with the gears so that it would always produce a jackpot. The better question would be: Should you actually be playing this particular machine?!

The ghost, I believe, was a woman named Maggie who was down on her luck. She plays the machine right as she dies. She then, of course, haunts the machine. I do want to say that the author wrote up one of the most compelling, striking, and fun descriptions of this woman before she dies. It packed a huge punch. I even laughed a bit at how almost jazzy the portrayal was. It had a beatnik feel to it, and I liked it.

The main character, a guy named Koster, ends up making a ton of money of this machine. Every time the bars would come up, there was a pair of pretty eyes in between them. Imagine that! It would be a very surreal thing to go through, and the author here paints the scene out so well.

I won't spoil the ending, but I just know that you are going to love it. It's good. It's scary. It's a great ending to a really well-written ghost story. I do recommend it, and I would also like to remark that this was a good story for how it was written, but not necessarily what it was written about. Harlan's fun presentation is why this short story is so good. Give it a try! You'll find it very hard to put down.

This blog was written on July 15, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Crossroads [Short Story Review]

[Minor spoilers. I give the gist of the ending as well.]

"Crossroads" is a short story written by Kerry Lown Whalen. It was published in 2012.

The story is about a guy involved in illegal drugs, trying to pull his life together for the sake of his girlfriend. He wants to make a change, but these things are hard to pull out of realistically.

Most of the stories in the collection I got this from are very dark and pointless. This story actually was about a guy sincerely trying to fix his life. He does actually do it as well, but it's how he does it that is what makes it so interesting.

Even so, this story does still feel like it comes from a place where the world just kind of sucks. Even if these characters do well for themselves, I still see them as terminally flawed. But at the very least, it looks like they are making an effort, and that is more than I can hope for most people I see in these stories.

I do recommend "Crossroads." It's a good title for this one as well. It makes me think about a number of crossroads I've had in my own life.

This blog was written on July 15, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: TimeSplitters: Future Perfect [Video Game Review]

"TimeSplitters: Future Perfect" is a video game developed by Free Radical Design. It was released in 2005. It is the third and final game in the "TimeSplitters" trilogy.

This game feels a lot more like a modern shooter. The first two games had a weird sort of wobbly fine aiming mechanic. The aiming thing was a leftover from the old "Goldeneye 007" and "Perfect Dark" days. The new aiming scheme was a sort of iron sight/zoom mechanic, which is more like what the newer games utilize. It was a welcome addition.

Another new aspect was the very linier story which flowed like most other games at the time. Instead of giving the player a map with a list of objectives, you are mostly always on a linier path, taking on enemies as you go. It works well enough, but it does distinguish it from the first to games quite a bit.

The story takes place right after the ending of "TimeSplitters 2," but you will very quickly realize a very notable change. Everything is comedy now. The first two games were a bit goofy and were filled with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor, but they were never outright comedies. "TimeSplitters: Future Perfect" is an outright parody of itself, and it cracks wise near constantly.

Cortez is now back. He is still an action hero, but now he is also kind of a dork. They wrote him up to be kind of too old to make hip jokes. Every time he would say his wonderful line, "Time to split!" the other characters would act like he was some sort of idiot. The jokes are hit and miss. Sometimes they are crude just to be crude, and it doesn't always work.

Instead of quantum leaping into other people, Cortex now just partners up with some of the protagonists of the first two games. This is very cool and a heck of a good time. But the real treat and main gimmick of the game is when you partner up with yourself within a time loop. These somewhat awkward encounters have you meeting yourself in the past and having to play the scene out twice or more in order to fulfill the time loop properly. The implementation of this mechanic is a little bit janky. You'll quickly notice that your past or future self is not doing the same actions you took (or will take), but it is still amusing enough to enjoy it for its story aspect.

Without a doubt, this game is remarkably fun to play. The action is constant and the shooting is well implemented. There are now vehicles which are hit and miss. They also have this weird new feature where you can log onto people's computers and read their emails or access cameras and whatnot. Not bad!

This game also has arguably the best version of the map maker. You can make really complex missions that are more similar to that of the first two games in functionality. I still like messing around with it to this day.

All said, I do recommend "TimeSplitters: Future Perfect." It probably should be considered the best of the three, but I do kind of want to give them a slap on the wrist for all the unnecessary humor and parody. I felt that the humor found in the second game was just the right amount. This game's story turned the whole thing into a joke. At the very least, the story does have a satisfying conclusion, and it is genuinely fun to play.

This blog was written on July 8, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Jeffty Is Five [Short Story Review]

"Jeffty Is Five" is a short story written by Harlan Ellison. It was published in 1977. This is one of his most compelling fantasy stories. It very much feels like a Twilight Zone episode.

It is about a five-year-old boy named Jeffty who never actually ages up. For something like 20 years, he remains five while his best friend, a man named Donny, keeps aging. Now, that alone makes for a great story, but it gets more complicated.

Jeffty isn't just five. He feels like he is five as well. All that childhood innocence is present. He only seems a little aware of the modern world around him, but he himself acts and even seems to perfectly portray a kid that is five-years-old from a bygone age.

The supernatural aspect of this story is also fascinating. Not only is Jeffty still five almost twenty years later, he also has the ability to listen to the old forgotten radio shows of the past. But he isn't listening to reruns. He is hearing new episodes of the shows as if they never got canceled. This was probably the most shocking thing for me. It was like Jeffty was locked in a version of the past that never actually went away.

Remember a show you loved when you were a child. Imagine if it was still running to this very day with the exact same cast. Imagine if the original Star Trek show was still going, and William Shatner had not aged a day, but they were still making new episodes... and you'd only be able to see it if you were with this one kid that was the same age as he was when the show was young. That's what it was like to be around Jeffty.

Now, I don't want to spoil the ending of this story, but it hits extremely hard. It packs more of a punch than I was ready for, but I really did love this story regardless. I absolutely recommend it and rather wish it had been made into a movie. It's that good.

This blog was written on July 8, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Last Time I Proposed [Short Story Review]

[I don't really spoil anything about this story.]

"The Last Time I Proposed" is a short story written by Liam Spencer. It was published in 2012. I am not sure how to classify this one. I haven't really read anything like it.

I don't always feel like I belong in this world. I have a lot of beliefs and morals that don't line up with the common practices of Planet Earth. Because of this, I am often depressed, especially if I think about it too much. This story makes those feelings come alive in a bad way.

The whole story is just miserable humans doing miserable human things. There's no real love or anything in it. It's just terrible people playing the same games everyone always plays with each other. It's about a man trying to chose the woman he wants to marry, but it's more about him than her. And she isn't all that great either. Both are divorcees. Both have to have sex in order to figure each other out. It feels more like he is shopping for a wife than really trying to form a real relationship.

The problem is that everything in this story just feels like it's normal. Nothing feels taboo or wrong. It's meant for people who just know about this game and play it. Honestly, I just can't get into it. It just makes me feel like I was born into the wrong world.

The story never really grabbed me. The ending especially lost me. It doesn't even feel like it had an ending. The author just sort of stopped writing it, making it feel like the characters were lost in a limbo of sorts. I also noticed that towards the very end of the story, typos began to happen frequently. Maybe the author was just sort of giving up himself. Who knows? I can't really speak for him.

Either way, I don't really recommend this one. I just don't get it, and I certainly don't want it.

This blog was written on July 8, 2024.

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