Game Review: The Walking Dead

Season 4 of The Walking Dead TV series is set to resume in a couple of days and it’ll be great to get my zombie fix again! To celebrate, I finally got around to writing a game review for The Walking Dead (A Telltale Games Series), which I played and finished at the start of the year.

The Walking Dead  is an episodic single-player graphic adventure based on Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic book series. Instead of the usual zombie shooting spree you see in most games of this genre, this focuses instead on story and character development. As the protagonist, your must do your best to survive amidst a zombie apocalypse, interact with other survivors and make difficult decisions that will ultimately impact the storyline. Since the game adapts to your choices, playing this feels like one of those “Choose your own Adventure” books, and each gaming experience is unique.

My immediate reaction upon finishing it was that it was one of the most “mind-blowing” games I’ve played in recent history. Pun intended. [Note: OK, I changed my mind. The Last of Us was mind-blowing x 10. Separate review on that.]

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Zombie Run: Nightmare Mode

Last July 28, we participated in Outbreak BGC, a 5km zombie-themed night run in Bonifacio Global City. The event proved to be the Nightmare Mode of Outbreak Manila, the fun run held in Nuvali in April this year. While the first run had a rural setting of mostly dirt trails and fields with a backdrop of perfect sunny skies and shambling zombies hiding in the grass, this time we were being chased by zombie sprinters in dimly lit slippery roads, at night, in the the pouring rain. Fun!

We ran in the same wave as Shaun of the Dead, Wolverine and a Jedi Knight!

Being the great procrastinators that we are, Art and I were left scrambling for last-minute costumes the day of the run. Our criteria for “costumes” was simple: 1) should be related to the zombie genre (movies/games) ; 2) should not impair our ability to run; 3) could be put together with stuff lying around the house.

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Fun Runs: More Fun with Zombies

I’m not a runner and normally hate jogging or joining marathons since I find running boring in general. But throw in zombies and obstacle courses and you’ve got me hooked. On the first week that registration for Outbreak Manila opened, I trooped to Toby’s to make sure we got slots and obsessively checked updates on their Facebook page on the days leading up to the run.

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Engaging Trips

Since it’s Valentine’s Day today, I thought I had to make an attempt to post something romantic. So, instead of listing the most romantic places in the country or date places, I’m featuring a couple of friends who went the extra mile to take the next step in their relationship. Here are a few adventure-filled marriage proposals.

Proposal while Scuba Diving 

Rina and Don got engaged while scuba diving in Arthur’s Rock, a marine sanctuary in Mabini, Batangas last May 2010. To pull this underwater engagement off required careful planning, conspirators (everyone in their group including the driver) and precautionary measures to ensure that the ring would not be carried away by the current, which was really strong that day. Don brought a slate where he had written the proposal down and attached the ring to a carabiner to keep it safe.

(Screenshots grabbed since I can’t post the video  here due to Facebook’s privacy settings.) Continue reading “Engaging Trips”

Travel Tips for a Zombie Outbreak

Where would you go if a Zombie Apocalypse hit the country?

This question has been plaguing (plague, get it?) me ever since I got hooked on zombie movies like Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, REC and video games like Left4Dead. The second season of The Walking Dead is also set to air in a couple of weeks (Woohoo)! If you’re familiar with these movies, games and shows, you’ll know that if you don’t have a defense and escape plan yet, you’ll probably end up a zombie snack very quickly.

Travel Up asked fellow zombiephiles for some travel tips in case an outbreak did hit the country. Here are their suggestions of where to go and what vehicle to use to make an escape, with valuable insights from the book “The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead” by Max Brooks (who also authored World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War). Both books are must-reads and offer practical advice for surviving zombie attacks, which may just save your life in the near future. Continue reading “Travel Tips for a Zombie Outbreak”