NFL Pick'em for Week 9

So I officially suck at picking games, but enjoy doing it. Is that a crime? I would love to have some of my followers that are football fans comment on my picks and maybe give me some picks to compete against.

Jets @ Lions - Lions, this one is risky as the Jets have a great defense, but the Lions have a pretty competent offense.

Dolphins @ Ravens - Ravens

Patriots @ Browns - Patriots

Chargers @ Texans - Texans

Bears @ Bills - Bears

Cardinals @ Vikings - Vikings

Buccaneers @ Falcons - Falcons

Saints @ Panthers - Saints

Giants @ Seahawks - Giants

Colts @ Eagles - Colts

Chiefs @ Raiders - Chiefs, but want to pick the Raiders as they are on a hot streak, but Chiefs are too.

Cowboys @ Packers - Packers

Steelers @ Bengals - Steelers

Bye: Broncos, Jaguars, 49ers, Rams, Titans, Redskins.

The Walking Dead Review

This Halloween we were granted the pleasure of viewing the series premier of "The Walking Dead" on AMC. Now I'm a huge zombie fan as I have mentioned on a few occasions, and a TV first, zombie show was something that I couldn't wait to watch when I heard about it being made earlier in the year.

I am a bit different than some fans as I have never read any of the comics that it is based on, but not because I don't want to, but more for the fact that I can't afford them. Pretty lame reason right?

So I watched it this Sunday, and it ran like 3 times in a row, and I probably could have watched it all 3 times. So as you can tell I really enjoyed it, but wanted to flesh out some of the things that make it so enjoyable for me.

1. Zombies on TV.

2. No lack of gore, it is pretty violent and it has to be based on the subject matter.

3. Characters are interesting so far.

4. Zombies on TV.

Oh yeah, so if you are a fan of graphic television, which not all are, this is a show to check out. Good pacing and I look forward to all six episodes of the first season.

No Choose your own adventure this week

Unfortunately, this weekend was busy with holiday events that I didn't get a chance to write the next part. I will make it up to you guys by having it next week, maybe a longer excerpt. Once again for those of you that vote (usually only 1 person lately :( ).

Halloween Weekend

As many of you know, it was Halloween last weekend. Now I'm not a big fan of the holiday as I'm one that doesn't like to stand out, and dressing up isn't my cup of tea, but I celebrate it for my kids.

This holiday had a couple of firsts I wanted to share.

It was the first Halloween that we went around our neighborhood for treats, usually going to our cousin's neighborhood, I know one of those people. So this year, we decided to stay around the house and have to say that my daughters made out like bandits. It was a very good time and knowing that we can just hang around the house and get the treats makes for a very relaxing Halloween.

It was the first time we went to the Scream at the Beach in Jantzen Beach. I've never been to the mall before and was a bit disappointed in the showing. Now I know the major draw is the Haunted house, which we weren't there for, but despite that, it was supposed to be a place for the kids to trick or treat at the stores, and it was only like 12 stores. To be honest, maybe there were more if we ventured outside, but my kids were dragging near the end of the trip. They did love the carousel though.

And the last first thing was my daughter asking to go home instead of me having to drag her home after treating. Never thought I would hear that, but it was a good night anyway. I hope everyone else had a good night.

WiP Wednesday

So I haven't done one of these in a little while, but decided to update everyone to my current project. It is going well, but in a different direction than I expected.

I think it's going in a slower, character developing direction than the last version, which was a lot more action scenes in the first few chapters. Now I have more character development, but wonder if it's going too slow now. My crit group has been saying that I need to develop my three dimensional characters, which I'm working on.

You can't call them Zombies!

Kyle started down the slope toward the cabin. The sun sparkled in the distance. One thing that set Anna’s nerves on edge was the lack of any animal sounds. No birds, no squirrels, nothing.

Dead pine needles crunched with each step that she made down the path. The further they made their way through the darkening forest it grated on her nerves more.

“Kyle?” She lost sight of him for a moment as the darkness became too much.

“I’m right here. We should almost be there.” He grabbed her hand, squeezed it gently, and led her through the forest. Feeling his warmth brought butterflies to her stomach. The small thought of being with him still made things better than if she was alone.

Not wanting to lose the little girl, Anna reached back for her and found her groping around in the dark. With the girl nearby, they made their way through the trees.

An occasional growl stirred up Anna’s pulse, but they kept on through the dim light left of the day.

Just as the darkness settled in, they found the cabin. The windows were streaked with blood. The door remained shut and a few creature remains were strewn about the yard. Most with bullet holes directly through the forehead.

“Good shot.” Kyle said and a click of a trigger filled the silence. He froze and looked around at the dense clump of trees.

The girl dug her body in behind Anna’s knees almost causing her to tumble from her own fright.

“Speak.” The gruff voice said.

“My name is Kyle and this is my girlfriend Anna.” Kyle said raising his arms.

The sudden removal of Kyle’s hand brought about a chill that Anna didn’t expect. She didn’t raise her hands, but instead picked up the girl. “We’re looking for a safe place to stay.”

“We don’t want any trouble.” The man said.

A large figure stood up on the roof. His silhouette stood out against the sliver of moonlight. He had to be a large fellow, because he nearly blotted out the moon.

“We won’t be. We are tired and scared.” Anna said, her body quivering from the chill that ran through her.

“That’s going around isn’t it?” The man said a bit joyful. He banged on the roof and the door swung open. A large overweight woman waved them in.

Not waiting to be formally invited, Kyle led Anna and the girl inside. The warmth of the fire brought out a sheen of sweat the moment Anna entered. She lowered the girl and moved to the comforting fire. Her bones ached with coldness, which faded as she warmed.

She didn’t notice it, but the girl scooted up next to her and rubbed her hands together near the fire. “So warm.” She said. Her teeth chattered.

The woman sat in her recliner and smiled at them. “What brings you out to this part of the woods?”

“We got lost.” Kyle responded his knees cracking as he knelt by the fire.

The woman took a sip from her mug and smiled. “Must be far from home then. We don’t get many visitors.”

“There is no home anymore.” Anna said. The thought of her parents and her home tightened her chest and tears ran down her cheeks. She hadn’t really had time to mourn them and now that she felt safe she let the tears fall.

“You guys are welcome to stay as long as you need.” The woman picked up a book from the side table.

Kyle’s head dropped for a moment and he smiled. “I’m tired.”

“There is a spare room for you guys to bunk up.” She said.

Anna noticed the woman for the first time. Her red hair was tight in curls, a smirk rested on her lips like she knew something that she didn’t want to reveal. Her chubby fingers held the mug tightly around the handle. She reminded Anna of her grandmother.

Anna looked over at the girl and saw that she had curled up on the carpet like a cat and was fast asleep. She didn’t realize how tired she had become until she had a chance to rest.

“Don’t worry your safe here.” The woman’s voice buzzed in Anna’s head.

Exhaustion seeped into her bones and she fought to stay awake. Her mind raced with a weird fear. Something didn’t feel right. Her eyelids weighed a ton and her head bobbed. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was the woman’s left hand was in a bandage. It could be from anything she thought as she dozed off.

What should Anna do?

NFL Pick'em for Week 8

So I made a slight comeback last week finishing 8 - 6 with my picks. Let's see if I can move it even further in the positive this year.

Bills @ Chiefs - Chiefs

Panthers @ Rams - Panthers, but the Rams will probably win.

Jaguars @ Cowboys - Cowboys

Broncos @ 49ers - Broncos

Redskins @ Lions - Lions

Dolphins @ Bengals - Dolphins

Packers @ Jets - Jets

Titans @ Chargers - Titans

Buccaneers @ Cardinals - Buccaneers

Vikings @ Patriots - Patriots

Seahawks @ Raiders - Seahawks

Steelers @ Saints - Steelers

Texans @ Colts - Colts

Bye week: Falcons, Ravens, Bears, Browns, Giants, and Eagles

Disney on Ice

The beginning of the holidays has started and my family and I are going to the Disney on Ice show in Portland tonight.

My 4 year old has been bouncing off the walls since last night and now that its tonight, her sing song voice echoes through the house, "Disney on Ice, Disney on Ice!"

It's a wonderful time of year, isn't it?

Since we can't bring the family down to DisneyLand, my wife and I decided that these events will work in the meantime. Hope to save up for a Disney trip sometime in the near future.

So what are some of your favorite family vacations? Any family holiday traditions?

NaNoWriMo

I participated in this last year and got a decent novel up and running, which I'm still revising now, but am not sure if I should participate this year. I don't know if I have time to work on a new novel, revise my current one and keep up on the holidays going on.

I wonder if I could count my revision for the project. I might do that if its not against the rules as this revision is almost like writing a new book.

What about you guys, are you going to participate?

New or revision?

Do you go to the sit ins and other writer bonding events that are setup for it?

What are some of your most memorable moments dealing with NaNo?

Dead Rising 2 Review

So as you might have guessed, I'm a big fan of all things zombies, so picking up this game for the Playstation 3 was a no brainer. The zombies are let loose in a vegas look a like city and you have to clear your name.

The graphics are pretty good considering you can have up to a couple hundred zombies on screen without any slow down. I enjoyed it except when I was swarmed without a weapon, not so much fun, but that will hark to something a bit later on.

The story was there, motivation to keep you moving, but nothing spectacular. I enjoyed the small stabs at other games and movies that were sprinkled throughout the survivor rescues.

Now the only thing that sort of irks me with this game is the controls. The way that you move is good enough, but when you start facing off against people with guns and other such advanced enemies it becomes a small problem. My main problem is the dodge roll isn't the easiest move to use because you have to press down the control stick that you are moving with so sometimes you roll in undesired locations.

The replay ability is massive because of the many things to do and having to level up your character. I know that I will enjoy going through it to do different things such as some of the trophies, which are a lot of collectibles.

I would give this game a solid 3 out of 5 as I know most people don't enjoy the zombie genre as much as me, but for me its a 4/5 because I love zombie games.

You can't call them Zombies!

Kyle forced the buggy faster through the streets, but it began to sputter. Its engine began smoking as it started to burn. It didn’t seem to be going very well, Anna watched as the once zooming surroundings slowed to a crawl. After a few feet, it stopped, black smoke surrounded them, stinging their eyes.

It choked them and made it hard to get out of the tight buggy. The girl coughed and whimpered as Anna helped her out of the seat and rushed with her away from the vehicle.

Kyle wheezed behind them as he waved his way through the thick smoke. The sun had started to set again and they were in the middle of a wooded area. Kyle had thought it would help thin out the creatures, and it did, but it also left them with no idea where civilization was anymore.

Carried on the faint breeze, creatures growls neared, but they were far enough away that the immediate threat didn’t send shivers through Anna’s spine. She had one thing on her mind and that was a place to rest. They had been zipping around without any direction and now that they were back on foot, it probably would have been a good idea to have stayed in town.

A loud pop sound reverberated around them and fire sparked to life on the small buggy engine. The girl took hold of Anna as the sparks caught the small dry brush on fire as well.

“Come on, we can’t stay here.” Kyle grabbed her hand and pulled Anna after him. The fire died slowly as it ran out of fresh fuel, but the smoke trailed into the sky.

“Where are we going?” Anna asked after they had hiked for thirty minutes in complete silence. The girl had taken up residence on Kyle’s back and had fallen asleep, her head lolling back and forth.

Kyle stopped at the crest of a small hill and looked ahead. The trees shadows stretched ahead of them. Anna estimated that they only had ten more minutes of sunlight. The mere thoughts of being out in the dark without any light made her head spin. Those creatures made noise, but some had a tendency to be silent too.

Kyle raised his hand and pointed in the distance. Unable to tell how far it was a small line of smoke rose in the distance. Civilization?

“Our luck with people right now isn’t the best.” Anna reminded him.

“Being in the dark isn’t any better.” Kyle said sharply.

Anna knew that was the truth, but dreaded another incident with some crazy person. She looked out before her and as she did the first star of night popped into the sky. She had to make a choice soon.

NFL Pick'em for Week 7

So I'm still losing ground here. Any tips?


Bengals @ Falcons - Falcons
Steelers @ Dolphins - Dolphins
Bills @ Ravens - Ravens
Jaguars @ Chiefs - Chiefs
Browns @ Saints - Saints
Redskins @ Bears - Redskins
49ers @ Panthers - Panthers
Rams @ Buccaneers - Buccaneers
Eagles @ Titans - Eagles
Cardinals @ Seahawks - Seahawks
Patriots @ Chargers - Chargers
Raiders @ Broncos - Broncos
Vikings @ Packers - Vikings
Giants @ Cowboys - Giants


Off week: Lions, Teaxans, Colts, Jets.

Questions for you?

So I've done this a bit before when I had fewer followers, but now that I have a few more, I wanted to pose this question again.

What are your favorite posts on my blog? Do you like the Choose your own adventure story? Do you like my review Tuesdays? What about my writing related posts? Etc? Anything that you would like more of? Less of? Topics I should cover?

I'm open for suggestions.

Conflict

Conflict, the core of any book, wouldn't you agree, because without it, what is there to really draw us in. Characters? Developed by conflict. Action? Without conflict there isn't any action. Plot? Driven by the conflict, without it, it is just sitting there.

So what are the keys of conflict? I feel that it is a mixture of all the things above that make for good conflict.

Without fully dimensional characters there can be no conflict to follow. Without action to show the conflict it doesn't move the plot forward. So when you are developing a story, you are drawn to the possible conflict.

For example, my current WiP is an action adventure story and the conflict is many fold, however, the key conflict is internal to the main character. He knows what he has to do to protect the girl, but by doing so he will have to open up about his other side that she doesn't know. So the internal conflict pulls the plot forward.

What are some of you favorite devices for creating conflict in your stories?

Lost Boys: The Thirst Review

So this weekend, my wife and I got on a vampire, no not Twilight, real vampire kick. We rented 30 days of Night's sequel, and I won't review it because I need to save something for a rainy day. But I will review the other movie that I picked up. "The Lost Boys: The Thirst," was a pretty generic movie, which didn't do much for the franchise however, the reason that I am reviewing it is because it was decent.

The vampires were cool looking for the most part, and the premise was semi-interesting, but I think what made it for me were the flashbacks to the first film. Also the nostalgia by going back brought up the memory of Corey Haim's recent death. I found his flashback scenes poignent because of him and Corey Feldmen's relationship off the set.

Other than that I think this film was pretty generic, didn't really try anything fancy and seemed like a decent direct to video sequel. I would give it a rent if you are into the series, but its only a 1.5/5.

You can't call them Zombies!

“I need to rest.” Anna’s body shook with pain. Her shoulder throbbed in its socket and she struggled staying conscious as Kyle zipped around the neighborhood in the buggy. Each jerk sent a jolt of pain to her shoulder that made tears leak out of eyes. A constant taste of vomit rose to the back of her throat with each painful turn. Darkness crept into the corner of her vision, she couldn’t handle it much longer.

“I’ll find a place, give me a minute.” Kyle swerved to avoid an abandoned car. The resulting clipping of the curb didn’t do anything for her shoulder.

“I can’t wait.” She cried out.

Kyle turned to her, slowing the buggy down. Creatures were sparse now, but still a few were shuffling toward them.

The girl remained silent; her wide inquisitive eyes looked up at Anna.

She didn’t know what else to do, but knew that if she didn’t get her shoulder fixed she wouldn’t be any use to Kyle if the creatures overwhelmed the buggy. She needed to get better. “Will you heal me?”

The girl nodded and rested her left hand on Anna’s shoulder. Coolness settled over Anna like she had opened the fridge on a warm evening. The pain subsided momentarily, and beneath the skin her bone shifted. Because of the numbing chill that enveloped her, the shifting within felt like someone was inside her putting her back together. It made her stomach twist and clench like she was about to vomit, but thankfully, she didn’t.

The girl’s hand glowed, the bones within clearly visible, like she was looking through an x-ray. Soon after she removed her hand, the chill vanished and with it all semblance of pain. She shifted in the seat and it didn’t hurt, nor did anything sound like bone scraping against concrete like it did before.

She could have hugged and kissed the girl and would have given her anything she wanted for the way she healed her.

“Amazing feeling isn’t it?” Kyle asked, his eyes searching her carefully.

She nodded. That was one way to put it, but they needed to find a place to rest now. The girl looked exhausted. Her eyes shut and she leaned against Kyle in a daze. Whatever she did must have sapped her energy.

Lots of questions filled Anna’s head, but they had to wait as the creatures were growing thick again. It wouldn’t take much longer before they were out of gas, and they didn’t have any idea where they were anymore. Far from home and surrounded by flesh eating creatures, it didn’t bode well for them if they ran out of gas without a plan.

NFL Pick'em for Week 5

So I think I did pretty horrible last week, only getting 4 right, but honestly there were some surprises such as the Saints and the Packers losing. I am now 33-43 on the year. I better do better this week or else its going to be hard to get out of the hole. Things are starting to settle between the teams and the good ones are rising to the top, while the weak ones (Panthers) are showing their true colors.


Dolphins @ Packers - Packers
Chargers @ Rams - Chargers
Ravens @ Patriots - Ravens
Browns @ Steelers - Steelers
Chiefs @ Texans - Chiefs
Lions @ Giants - Giants
Falcons @ Eagles - Falcons
Seahawks @ Bears - Bears
Saints @ Buccaneers - Saints
Jets @ Broncos - Jets
Raiders @ 49ers - Raiders
Cowboys @ Vikings - Vikings
Colts @ Redskins - Colts
Titans @ Jaguars - Titans


Week off: Cardinals, Bills, Panthers, Bengals

Where are all my Followers?

So I recently jumped up to 38 followers and thought that it would cause more comments to come in, however, this hasn't been the case. My question is why not?

Am I not posting things that are interesting enough?

I am open to suggestions on what you would like me to post. I do this for myself, but would also love to get to know some of you guys.

I feel that I work hard keeping this up every week, but sometimes I wonder if it's worth it. What keeps you motivated for you in regards to blogging?

Endings

So last week I mentioned endings of books, and I feel that I do a pretty good job with endings. I like to go out with a big bang, emotional, and ties up a the loose ends in a neat little bow. However, sometimes it doesn't all end up like that, what are some of your favorite strategies for the endings of your books?

Do you like to have happy endings, or conflicted endings?

Do you leave anything still a question for the reader to think about afterwards?

Do you leave it open for sequels, or tie it up for a stand alone book?

Remake Movie Reviews

This past week, I rented both the Karate Kid and A Nightmare on Elm Street remakes of their 80's counterparts.

Karate Kid was pretty good, it started off slow, but what surprised me most was the acting of Jayden Smith (Will Smith's son) who I felt did a good job. He seemed to be following in his father's footsteps pretty well. The one downside of the movie I felt is that it started a bit slowly and is a longish movie at 2 and 1/2 hours. Other than that, I would say this one is as good, if not better than the original movie.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a mixed bag for me. I am a big fan of the original movie and felt that this one didn't live up to it very well. I felt that the makeup of Freddy wasn't as scary, but looked a bit retarded. I know it was supposed to be more realistic, but its a horror movie, it should be scary. Also, I felt that the acting was pretty bare bones. Nothing stood out, but nothing really detracted from the film. The one good thing of this movie, which I liked was the way that Freddy was depicted by the actor. It was pretty creepy. However, Robert Englund is a classic and is well known. Oh yeah, I also thought that the gore was upped for this one, but its a horror film, and expected.

Karate Kid 4/5

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2.5/5

You can't call them Zombies!

The girl clung to Anna’s leg, her quaking fear seeped into Anna herself. She ran her hand through the girl’s hair, trying to calm herself down, more than to comfort the girl. “It’s going to be alright.” She had contemplated leaving the girl, but after what the girl did for Kyle, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Kneeling next to the girl, she grabbed her hands, “Sweetie, can you climb on my back like a piggy-back ride?”

In the girls tear filled eyes; Anna saw the creatures shambling toward her. Their growls drowned out her own fear. The girl nodded, wiped a tear away and with Anna’s help took up her spot on her back.

Hurrying to the corner, the girl’s grip tugged on Anna’s throat choking her, but she thought that it was better than the girl dropping off. She crouched at the corner of the roof; it was a good twelve feet drop and knew that she would bust something if she tried to make the jump so she started to dangle her legs over the edge.

They fell away, in the middle of the air, and a thought shot through Anna’s head. What if a creature was waiting for her? With this shocking fear, she lost her grip and fell off the roof. In midair, she twisted her body, not wanting to land on the girl, and landed hard on her side. The girl rolled away from Anna and in her dizzying disorientation, she struggled to her feet, and reached for the girl with her left arm. A mind clearing jolt of pain shot to her shoulder.

Her knees gave out on her, growls surrounded her and the girl didn’t appear to be moving. A grating sound of bone on something else filled her head and she cried out. Her shoulder had separated or broke, or something worse. Stomaching busting pain clenched down on her and she grabbed the ground with her right hand. The soft soil gave way to her fingers, sticking underneath her nails. The taste of bloody copper lined her tongue.“Shit.”

A buzzing sound began in the distance. She turned to it and found Kyle in the dune buggy. His eyes were filled with rage and a crazy glee played on his lips. “Suckers take that!”

He spun it around, dirt sprayed Anna, but she was so glad to see him. Creatures attacked the buggy, but he darted it through them like a master. Their bodies bounced off like bugs and remained on the ground as their limbs twisted in disgusting angles.

Fighting through the pain, Anna limped over to the girl and tried to lift her. She remained unconscious, so she started to drag her away from the house as creatures started to notice her. The girl’s dead weight tweaked her shoulder, sending a flare of blinding pain through her, but she gritted her teeth and continued to drag the girl. “Kyle!”

Her voice didn’t carry at all and she struggled with trying to get it louder. “Kyle!” She shouted, her throat burned, but it got Kyle’s attention. He did another 180, flinging creatures left and right and tore toward her. The buggy zipped up to her and he hopped out.

Creatures had started to shuffle their way again, but with Kyle’s help they got the girl into the passenger seat and Anna squeezed in next to her. Her shoulder flared up again, but she dealt with it since Kyle threw the buggy into gear. It zoomed off, leaving her uncle’s house behind them in a hurry.

“So Anna what do you want to do?” Kyle asked.

She didn’t know what to do, but she had to decide something before blacking out.

What should Anna do?

NFL Pick'em for Week 4

7-7 last week, so still not doing very well on the season (29-33 ), but I am enjoying this and would like it if any of my followers that also enjoy football could comment on picks, get some interaction between us all.

Jaguars @ Bills - Bills

Broncos @ Ravens - Ravens

Chiefs @ Colts - Colts

Packers @ Redskins - Packers

Rams @ Lions - Lions

Bears @ Panthers - Panthers

Buccaneers @ Bengals - Bengals

Falcons @ Browns - Falcons

Giants @ Texans - Texans

Saints @ Cardinals - Saints

Titans @ Cowboys - Cowboys

Chargers @ Raiders - Chargers

Eagles @ 49ers - 49ers

Vikings @ Jets - Vikings

Byes: Dolphins, Patriots, Steelers, Seahawks.

Frustration

Have you ever had the feeling that other things in the way of your writing, such as your day job, or kids, or spouse? What do you do about these things that can frustrate you? Do you let it slide, or do you let it stew and release it through your writing?

Lately, I have been pretty frustration free based on the fact that I have resigned myself to staying up late after everyone is bed before I begin my writing, now I'm tired for my day job, but sometimes thats necessary.

What are some of your ways with dealing with daily frustrations that interfere with your writing?

Openings

This past couple weeks, I have been struggling with coming up with an opening to my Work in Progress, and have changed it a few times and eventually went back to one that was a slight modification of the original, because I believe it sets up somethings later on better than the other versions.

However, my question is what are some of the most important things that have to be in the opening of a book?

My list goes as follows:

The main character has to be introduced.

The conflict should be introduced, but it can be hinted at as well.

I think the antagonist can be introduced as well, but not always.

The things that I can slow down an opening chapter is:

Excessive world building. It should be presented slowly, only showing us what we need to know to draw us in.

Excess backstory, we don't need to know every detail of the main characters right off the bat. I think this also works that we don't need detailed physical descriptions immediately. Slowly introduce it as the story unfolds, as the reader might have a picture in their head and you can build on that. If you do it all at the beginning you take away some of the imaginative fun for the reader.

What are some of your tips for opening chapters?

Heavy Rain PS3 Review

This past week I've been playing a lot of this game. I played the demo a long while back when it first came out and was intrigued, but wasn't enough to buy it. However, now that Blockbuster Online allows Game rentals without a due date, I picked this game up again. After downloading a 1GB sized patch, which allows it to be played with the Move, I fired it up and started through the story on Monday.

It is broken up through many different viewpoints and I think that what makes it work so well. A lot of the characters have some major flaws associated with them, but I won't go through them because they sort of ruin some of the story elements. I think the way that the story unfolds and how the characters are portrayed trying to solve the mystery is pretty interesting. I like how the way that every action you take influences the story in some way, so if you mess up one scene, it will carry over in the next one with that character. Some of them are major ways, and some not so major ways.

The major reason I wanted to try the game again was because of the Move implementation, and I have to say that it improves the immersion into the story. It does this by having you do little things, like turn the key in the ignition of the car, or open and close a closet door, etc, and because this story has a slow, but tense, pace, it really helps make you feel like you are performing the actions.

I have heard that there are 7 different endings in the story and I only witnessed one, and I'm not even sure it was the "happy" ending or not, but it tied up the events in the story well enough.

So I would definitely recommend this game for a rental, but if you are into games with deep stories, it would be a purchase. The only reason I didn't buy it is because at times it becomes a chore to do things, such as moving through the environment having to do actions for all minor things, like opening doors. I give this game a good 3/5.