Aggressive Inline: An Unexpectedly Haunted Game

Well Halloween is over guys, and some of us are having a harder time getting out of the Halloween spirit than others.  That's why I'm going to be fitting in one more ghastly post even though it's no longer October.  Today we're going to take a look at some supernatural elements that unexpectedly make an appearance in the extreme sports game Aggressive Inline.

Well I probably shouldn't have said they would be unexpected, the extreme sports genre is known for some pretty whacked-out moments (ever play Toxic Grind, or a "little" game series featuring Tony Hawk?).  Anyway, we're going to cover some aspects of the first level in Aggressive Inline, which is the Movie Lot.

Your first impression of the level is that it's pretty standard fare for something of this genre.  You're basically busting combos on the street outside of a movie studio.  You can even enter the studio and continue your hijinks.  Here you'll find that the place is apparently set up for a horror film of some sort, complete with gravestones scattered everywhere, and a dead-looking tree.

Just a regular, non-haunted tree, right guys?

This brings us to the first "supernatural" event.  There is a objective you can activate near the tree, where you are given instructions by a disembodied voice who claims to be the ghost of a previous skater.  In actuality, it sounds like some surfer guy (possibly a bored intern at the studio) talking through a loudspeaker, trying too hard to sound scary and just coming off as comical.

However, completing this objective causes the dead-looking tree to start growing rapidly, with roots bursting out of the ground, and branches reaching out and twisting around overhead cables.  While this is happening we hear a deep, roaring voice and an evil-sounding laugh.  Maybe it really was a ghost we were speaking to?

Possessed tree pulling its roots out of the ground.

Also in one section of the film studio, amongst the gravestones you'll find multiple ghosts flying and walking this way and that.  At first you might assume these to be projections of some sort, just special effects for whatever movie is being filmed.  However after the whole experience with the tree, we just don't know, and the game never explains.

Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize.

That wraps up our quick look at the possibly paranormal experiences you'll have in the Movie Lot level of Aggressive Inline.  Did you guys play this game?  If so, do you think our skating character really encountered ghosts?  Or were we just being messed with by the studio's staff?

Boos in Super Mario: The Not-So-Friendly Ghosts

Today let's take a look at one of the most recognizable enemies in the Super Mario series: Boos!  These ghastly enemies serve the purpose of adding a bit of supernatural elements to Mario's adventures, as if giant sentient mushrooms and evil turtles weren't supernatural enough for us all.

By ghost standards, Boos have a somewhat cutesy look that we've come to expect from Nintendo.  They basically resemble a rounded marshmallow in appearance, with two short stubby arms that seem to have no purpose other than to cover their eyes.  These ghosts usually wear a frown, and cruise around with their tongue stuck out of their large mouth.  Also they have large (and sometimes spiky) teeth sticking out of their upper jaw, probably as a last-ditch effort to make them look threatening.  Starting with Super Mario 64, Boos emit a high-pitched giggle when Mario's around.

You'll find Boos sometimes hanging out in haunted house levels in the Super Mario games, such as the Ghost Houses in Super Mario World, where you'll find large swarms of them floating around.  Another notable location is Big Boo's Haunt in Super Mario 64, which has a surprisingly creepy atmosphere and humorous enemies such as haunted pianos and books.  Here you'll even get a chance to do battle with Big Boo himself, who is literally a big Boo (he easily dwarfs Mario).

Big Boo pursues Mario.

Despite being malicious ghosts, Boos are actually pretty shy.  Anytime Mario looks a Boo directly in the face, it will cover its eyes and go invisible.  However, as soon as Mario turns his back on it, the Boo will reappear and begin to pursue him.  Naturally a good strategy when riding floating platforms is to always have Mario face as many Boos as possible.

Boos definitely pose a challenge in Mario games, due to their tendency to hide when you try to attack them head-on.  Also they almost always will gang up on Mario by attacking from different angles, making it difficult and sometimes impossible to stare them all down at once.  Still, they are a refreshing enemy to face every once in a while, when you need a break from beating down countless Goombas and Koopas.  Sure they aren't a scary enemy, but they have that Nintendo charm that we all know and love.

Team Fortress 2 Halloween Events: Spooktacular Fragging

Every October, Valve Software gives a special treat to all the gamers who love the spirit of Halloween.  This treat is the annual Team Fortress 2 Halloween event.  I must say, whether you love Valve or hate them, you have to admire the fact that they're still supporting TF2 all these years after its 2007 release date.  So let's dive in and look at all the awesome features of this event.

Back in 2009, Valve initiated their first Halloween event in TF2.  They released a new king of the hill map called Harvest, as well as a Halloween-themed counterpart called Harvest Event.  The event map is set at nighttime with various visual touches to get you into the Halloween spirit.  These include jack-o-lanterns scattered around the map, tombstones, and re-skinned health kits which are now represented by candies and cauldrons.

Also placed around the map are pumpkins with sticks of dynamite strapped to them, which will explode when shot.  The highlight of Harvest Event is its resident ghost, which spawns at various locations on the map and slowly wanders around.  If you venture too close to it, your character will shriek in fear and will be unable to attack for a few seconds, leaving you vulnerable.

The ghost freaks out the Demoman.

After the inaugural 2009 event, the TF2 Halloween specials have become more elaborate with many more new features.  Each year Valve will either release a pair of maps (one standard map, along with its Halloween-themed counterpart), or they will give a standard map a complete Halloween makeover.  One notable case is Mann Manor, which is an extremely detailed counterpart of Mountain Lab, complete with spooky library sections, dark holes with creepy eyes peering out at you, and hair-raising noises throughout.

Mann Manor.

Instead of a simple ghost wandering around, all Halloween events after 2009 have introduced boss monsters which will spawn at various intervals.  Notable bosses include a gigantic floating eyeball which fires missiles, and the Horseless Headless Horsemann (Valve's humor at its finest), who runs around the map swinging a giant axe.

These monsters contain huge amounts of HP and will attack all the players on the server, therefore the best way to defeat them is for both teams to (temporarily) put aside their differences and work together to take down the boss.  Defeating these bosses will give players a special item, such as the Horseless Headless Horsemann's head (makes no sense but that's the whole point), which is a wearable hat.

Speaking of items, there are quite a few Halloween-specific goodies to grab.  Through random gift drops you'll be able to pick up Halloween masks (really just paper bags with a TF2 character's face drawn on it), worn-out top hats, and even class-specific Halloween costumes.  Costumes must be collected piece by piece, but once you complete a set you're usually rewarded with humorous results.  For example, the Engineer has a costume resembling a giant fly, which causes his voice to sound extremely high pitched.  The Soldier's robot costume unlocks a whole new set of voice commands, as well as a new robot-dance taunt.

Speaking of dancing, what would Halloween be without Thriller?  The developers at Valve were awesome enough to give a special Thriller dance taunt to all classes, which can only be used when the Halloween events are active.


Last but not least, a recent addition to Team Fortress 2's Halloween festivities is Zombie Fortress, which is a set of new game modes that will have players controlling both regular classes and zombies, depending on their team.  I guess Valve wasn't satisfied with just Left 4 Dead?

If you're a fan of Halloween and online first-person shooters, you should absolutely check out Team Fortress 2 when this special event occurs.  The game is free after all.  The nicely themed maps and intense boss battles are something to behold, and we can only hope that Valve continues this tradition for years to come!

Have you guys tried out the TF2 Halloween events?  If so, which one was your favorite?