You’ll meet the great bear guardian first, dire Nalorakk. Be sure to lead many players his way if you dream about riding that wicked looking bear sometime in the near future. Akil'zon is the eagle avatar and master of storms. Unlike his Zul Gurub counterpart, the lynx avatar Halazzi does not have three acolytes that resurrect one another. Jan'alai, dragonhawk avatar puts up a good fight protecting the eggs of the flying hunter. Many will find their doom by the hands of Hex Lord Malacrass but none is as powerful as the master himself, Zul’Jin.

A troll with a dark past

<-250x250 Square - left->Zul'jin's ability as a warrior quickly prompted him leader of his tribe and his need drove him to reunite the wandering troll tribes of Zul’Aman under a single ruler. This extraordinary feat echoed back from the Troll Wars, when the tribes reunited last in the face of mortal danger. Such were the times when Zul’Jin took charge, as Humans joined the High Elves in a crusade to drive the forest trolls back into the wilderness and claim their lands. His raiding parties laid waste to the surrounding areas of Quel'thalas in a time when trolls were weak and defensive. In the conjuration of the Second War, Zul’jin’s plans to unite all trolls under one nation came to a halt however, as he has been captured and tortured, losing his right eye. When his wardens were attacked by a small troll war-party, Zul’Jin cut off his own arm with a fallen spear and escaped to Zul’Aman.

In his rage he searched for new ways to vanquish his foes and found the tools of his revenge in Hexlord Malacrass VooDoo. The totemic spirits revered by the forest trolls in their ancestral shamanistic practices were bound to the greatest and most powerful troll fighters, inside Zul’Aman. Thus the bear, eagle, lynx and dragonhawk avatars were born. As the high elves turned blood elves when Quel’Thalas was destroyed by the scourge and now fight alongside the horde. Forest trolls were always notorious for their war habits, feared by enemies and allies alike, so these events did nothing to smother Zul’Jin’s heart. In his rage, Zul’Jin now turns against the horde and everyone entering Zul’Aman hereby is a foe.

The Zul speaks

“Dis was our land. TROLL land. We Amani was here before anyone! Da' elves and dere Alliance came to drive us out. But we never give up. We never forget... Da' elves took my eye. I cut off my own arm to escape 'dem... and now, 'de fight alongside da' HORDE!? I SPIT on da' Horde! I hate you, I hate you all... But I got a surprise for ya' now, so come on in... De' Amani never give up! We never forget. We never die. 'Dis is our land: you wanna stay, you stay here forever! We gonna bury you here.”

Four spirits pour into one

The wooden doors behind Malacrass’ sanctuary lead to an inner garden where the troll chieftain takes residence. You may think the four avatars defeated, but you are wrong. This matter has always been between Zul’Jin and Malacrass, but the totemic avatars are bound to the Zul alone, for he performed the summoning. That is why we can see them hovering atop the terrace in spirit form, inactive as if waiting for a sign.

As you approach Zul’Jin, he rushes along with a dozen troll warriors that die to three AoE blasts. Le the spank and tank begin! Raiders should spread around Zul’Jin evenly to avoid nasty surprises in the later stages of the fight. In the humanoid form he whirls and hits everyone in melee range so keep an eye on the rogue. He also randomly uses grievous throw which impacts for 3k and leaves a debuff like Rokmar the Crackler in Slave Pens does. The bleeding effect ticks for 2.5k every 2s and disappears if the targeted player is at full health. Be warned that Zul’Jin switches phases every 20% and dps needs to give the tank time to establish agro again, due to threat wipes.

At 80% we have Zul’Jin slightly annoyed by our presence as he calls upon the spirit of the Bear spirit for assistance as he turns into a brown hairy beast. Unlike Nalorakk he casts Paralysis on everyone, debuff which stuns for 4s each 5s and deals up to 4.5k damage unless dispelled. The priority lies with the main tank (due to the recent threat reset) and then healers. Again, luck isn’t a factor so play your cards right and down at 60% Zul’Jin call upon the aid of the Eagle spirit as the bear ghost falls to the ground seemingly dead.

From here on casters will have a tough time doing anything so melee DPS will be the main source of damage. He does not attack anyone so melee should go all out. Lightning zaps you for 1250 each time you cast a spell, but this mana feedback can be fooled by using spells with long casting times and then pulling an instant cast spell at the same time. This way you only get zapped every 4 seconds, because WoW interprets your chain as one single spell. The eagle hasn’t yet landed and the storms are getting annoying. Small tornadoes randomly patrol the terrace and deal 1000 damage with an additional pushback effect. Healers have problems here and must avoid getting cornered by tornadoes. DPS casters are advised to deal damage only as long as there is enough healing to pass around.

With proper control, Zul’Jin reaches 40% and starts off the gamble phase. The lynx that enforces his look upon the master troll can fixate and attack a random person in the raid, therefore ignoring all other attempts to gain agro. It’s hard to describe the kind of attacks this lynx can pull off. Suffice it to say that evasion will not help, nor parry or dodge. Just use blessing of protection, vanish, ice block or whatever life savers available. As a mage I died in two hits which landed in exactly one second, so not even a warrior’s intervene is enough on cloth wearers. When the lynx isn’t fixating anyone, it does a blade dance like Kargath in Shattered Halls, leaving a stacking bleeding debuff on people hit. This phase is hands down the hardest in the battle, so expect to lose up to three people.

Only 20% hit points to go and Zul’Jin falls, only to rise again as a dragonhawk. The spirit casts a smite type spell randomly into the raid, but it’s an area effect so you need to move out immediately when you get hit for the first time. The holy fire ranges somewhere into 3500 damage and ticks every second, so three of these will most likely see you dead. After fighting the lynx, melees get punished in return when the dragonhawk twists high into the air, for pushback and damage inflicted on everyone within melee range. It’s a race against time by now as you may have one healer dead and the rest with moderate mana issues. Raiders must be spread out to avoid his flame breath ability, pretty much the way Jan’alai hit. Just burn him down as fast as possible and don’t get smited in the process.

As the last few percents of his life are removed, Zul’jin’s power wanes and the four spirits forever leave his body in a final release. The warlord of Zul’Aman is defeated and you can now loot his blood to complete the end quest. I’m positive you’ll be back for another round once the three day cooldown wears off and the instance resets. It’s a great new area to spark interest in the minds of lore and loot hunters. Sunwell Plateau should come out soon enough, otherwise there will be no incentive for players to complete Hyjal and the Black Temple with such generous items available in Zul’Aman.

Zul’Aman has an eerie look about it when you’re a ghost. No matter how well geared or how skilled you are, there is still a huge surprise factor in new instances. Such is the case now, when we fight, die, but in the end overcome the challenge, accompanied by a smile and a warm feeling. If you can do this, it only takes three hours all in all to clear the forest troll capital, even with wipes, but you’ll want to go there again for the cool factor. Witnessing the might of Nalorakk the Bear Avatar and the gauntlet which precedes the Akil'zon Eagle Avatar fight, the need to push forward grows stronger. Some of those brave enough to venture thus far into Zul’Aman would rather kill Halazzi the Lynx Avatar before Jan’alai the Dragonhawk Avatar, but we chose a different approach.

Scouts and patrols

<-250x250 Square - left->The right way lies beyond the Bear Avatar terrace. Small packs comprised of two troll hunter types and two mages guard the way to the Jan’alai, along with a fifth, the scout. Amani’shi Scouts are the targets of choice here, since they spawn relatively fast and rush to a nearby drum to call reinforcements at the first sign of trouble. While handling 4-troll packs is not a problem, killing the scout and 2 more warriors can raise the challenge level considerably. It’s not a gauntlet in the real sense of the word, but more of a fight against spawning times. As it was with the previous boss, raid members need to advance as one, clumped up, and be on a watch out for new scouts coming from the front or the rear. So load up the most powerful ranged attack at your disposal and nuke the scout first as he has just 6k hit points. Entangling roots work like a charm here, but a warrior charging and performing hamstring is just as good.

Second, sheep or mind control a mage, while the other is burned down. Be ready to resheep often since they can dispel themselves somehow. The best way to deal with mages is to chain interrupt their main cast, an area of effect fireball volley, because in conjunction with the self buff it’s a devastating combo. That buff can be dispelled however, although I recommend spellsteal since it raises running speed by 500% and triples casting speed for 15 seconds. Other than that, be sure to keep your eye peeled to the many patrols in the area and you’ll kill the ten packs in no time.

Jan'alai the Dragonhawk Avatar

Climbing up the stairs that lead to Jan’alai, the dragonhawk avatar, I noticed his terrace has a special layout. The left and right wings are filled with dragonhawk eggs, soon to hatch and reinforce his brood. Just charge in when ready and tank the boss in the middle. Be sure to spread out evenly around him to avoid the flame breath he casts on random raid members. 5k damage is not a big deal if it hits one player, but can be deadly should three get caught in its wake. The tank and spam is interrupted suddenly by Jan’alai cry for the hatchers, as two trolls enter the scene heading towards the egg areas. The troll heading left is to be killed on sight, while the right troll spawns up to 6 small dragonhawks. Don’t worry, the hatchers have low hp. The offtank will get some hatchling attention in the mean time, as the mage/warlock area of effect team goes in for the big kill. Unfortunately your time is limited so never allow the right troll to spawn more than six hatchlings or you’ll find yourself doing the bomb game with adds running around.

Every one in a while he teleports the raid to his current tanking position and starts spawning small fire bombs to the ground at random locations. You have roughly 5 seconds until the bombs are in place and explode for roughly 5k damage, so stay clear of the danger zone. The blast area is less than 2 yards in radius, so you basically don’t get hit unless standing on bombs. Jan’alai should enrage 5 minutes into the encounter for a small DPS boost, but nothing that can kill your tank. When he’s at 36% be sure to cut off all damage done to the boss and wait for the teleport. Only once the bombs have exploded are you allowed to bring him down, because at 35% he spawns all the remaining eggs into a massive hatchling army. What can I say, it’s hell to tank 10+ hatchlings running around and killing cloth users, unless the tank is a paladin. Otherwise, it’s possible to reset the boss if everyone goes down the stairs, the way you came. Be sure to go the right way though, because stairs on the other side are broken and you can’t climb back the jump. Just do your best and AoE the hatchlings down to size fast. If you manage to pull this off, Jan’alai is a good as dead since he has no more raid wiping abilities up his feathers.

Halazzi the Lynx Avatar

There is a great monolith in the middle of Zul’Aman, not essentially different from the giant heads from the isle of Sumatra, staring off in to the distance. The path to Halazzi the Lynx Avatar lies to the left. I had a strong deja-vu feel from the old Zul’Gurub days while clearing the trash here. It’s hunters with lynx pets blocking the road, along with patrols and scripted events which spawn even more lynx. After two gauntlet sessions, fighting here is as relaxing as it can get. Getting shredded down to size by lynx spawns in the jungle will get you killed, so be sure to let the tank lead the way. Halazzi can be reached at the top, waiting for you in his dark chamber. Upon reaching his lair, the third quest in the Zul'Aman chain is now complete as you inspected all of the totemic avatar terraces. Be sure to turn it in and get the sequel which involves exchanging some mean words with Hex Lord Malacrass.

Halazzi is to be tanked in the middle of the room. Everyone needs to be spread around evenly to avoid extra damage from the chain lightning so generously released by his corrupted lightning totem. Be sure to burn the totem down every 30 seconds as it gets released. In addition, all tanks need to be on top of each other to get his special ability which lashes into a small area for massive damage. One tank could get one-shoted, so two are advisable. Don’t be fooled by his relatively low hit point pool because the battle is quite long.

Starting at 75% Halazzi transforms into his shaman embodiment and calls upon the spirit of the lynx for help. Naturally the offtank takes the lynx and from here on it’s tank and spank. Random healers be sure to closely watch health levels because the shaman often uses a flame shock like ability which hits for 5k and ticks for 2k. Dispels are in order. Phase two lasts until the lynx dies, so be sure to ignore the shaman while dealing damage. I was surprised to see Halazzi up and running again once we downed the pet, so expect this phase switching to occur at 50% and 25% too, for a total of 1.2 million hit points. The only way you can wipe here is by ignoring the corrupted lightning totem of slacking at dispelling the flame shock.

Malacrass - Big name, small Voodoo

Zul’Jin is the one who called upon the avatars of the ancient order and imbued their essence into his now fallen comrades. Yet his shamanistic magic alone could not have pulled off such a feat without help from the dark tidings of Voodoo. Hexlord Malacrass bound the spirits to the world of flesh and now must pay the price. It is said he carries with him some of the best trinkets in the game, bar those who only Illidan possesses. His chambers lay a couple of steps back and the gate opens only once the four have been slain. Malacrass holds mindless abomination-like Amani berserkers to guard him, probably bound by the same hexes used to contain the avatar spirits. Everything about this chamber has the taint of Voodoo about it, including his four minions.

Once the battle starts, they need to be subdued one way or another, usually by crowd control abilities while the deadliest are killed first. The Ogre should always be sheeped, along with the Serpent beast, the Bloodelf healer killed on the spot, the Imp banished just like the Elemental, while the Undead is shackled. The Dragonkin can be sleeped by a druid. You only get four of these picked in a random fashion and it’s common practice to kill three and keep the fourth crowd controlled (be sure to leave the sheep for last). They drop fast and can’t wipe the raid on their own.

Malacrass is a different deal altogether. In phase one he puts up a nice tank and spank fight, but when reaching about 80% or so, he starts throwing shadow bolts towards every raid member. It’s a channeling type spell that hits for 500 unmitigated shadow damage each second for 10 seconds. While 5k damage doesn’t seem like much, it affects the whole raid and spell pushback drives down healing a lot. This is the moment when people die, especially if random healing takes away too much attention from tank healing duty. Tanks can just *plop* to general frustration. We did however find a workaround by using Black Temple shadow resistance gear to get 150 SR unbuffed. Upon adding the priest buff, you mitigate at least half the damage Malacrass causes. It may be too much to ask though, so jus be sure to pop a healing potion each time the going gets rough.

Once he’s done casting, the Hexlord draws upon the power of each raid member, decreasing their damage by 1% while boosting his by 10%. It’s a soft enrage timer and you should expect at least three of these. Not only that, but one unlucky player gets his soul drained as Malacrass borrows some of the class’ abilities for one minute. Pretty much if a healer gets drained, he gains the ability to Heal; if a mage gets drained he hurls random frostbolts or fireballs. Usually Malacrass doesn’t hit that much in melee, but after the third draining this can get really nasty while impersonating a warrior or a rogue so luck is a factor. The borrowed paladin consecration hits hard too. Healers should cope with whatever damage type the raid is going to receive as there is no real need for 9 customized strategies according to the skills he steals. You might want to keep an eye out for mind controls if the priest gets drained. Having a healer out of the battle for a couple of seconds can end the fight fast. In the end, Malacrass falls and his shinnies will belong to you now.

I found the encounter to be the most interesting in all of Zul’Aman and pretty much as hard as the one waiting before you - Zul’Jin. But nothing is more stimulating that watching the hex lord’s loot table. There is a very potent dps caster trinket matched only by two rewards from Black Temple, along with other interesting items. Go ahead and turn the quest in, because his death has a small gold reward as well. Beyond the wooden doors guarded by Malacrass lies Zul’Jin’s garden.

<-250x250 Square - left->If you thought you knew everything about World of Warcraft, think again. Over the vast Eastern Plaguelands and into the north, there lies a newly found area which some believe to be their capital of Zul’Aman (Zul stands for chieftain). The Amani Empire is a long lasting legacy of shamanism and voodoo in the Northern Kingdoms. Even now, when their power dwindles, the vicious Amani trolls are still proud of their ancestral heritage, ready to fight tooth and claw to protect it. Good news travel fast in Azeroth and we make haste to witness the unveiling from Hatchet Hills - Ghostlands. Surely there must be relics of great importance to be had within its ancient halls and we wonder if the savage beasts still claim ownership over the old power node of the Amani. Bud Nedreck is the regular tomb rider and we’re pretty much in his employment as we enter the site, dreaming for treasure and fame but prepared for the worst.

Forest trolls?

You have to understand hat the forest trolls of Lordaeron are a different breed that what we’ve encountered thus far starting with the Barrens. In times of old, their race was divided into two great empires bearing the name of their capitals, centers of great influence in both the real and the ethereal. One is known as Zul’Gurub and the other is the recently rediscovered Zul’Aman. Many centuries ago High Elves traded arcane knowledge with Humans, allied themselves to purge trolls and claim the land as their own. A massive bloodbath ensued and the Amani trolls grew weak in numbers, retreating to the safety of the forest. It is believed Zul Aman is one of the last standing outposts of Amani power, left untouched by the taint of outer influences. Zul’Jin is the uncontested leader of the Amani and he devised a plan, a magic so dark that he could imbue his brethren with the powers of the great totemic gods. Hex Lord Malacrass and his which doctors managed to call upon the powers of the bear, eagle, lynx and dragonhawk.

Follow the dress code, hit the gong for loot

Remember to take the Zul’Aman starter quest from Shattered, in the Lower City. The letter you receive must be brought to the attention of Bud Nedreck, in the outskirts of the temple. Bud is the leader of the expedition that landed the discovery in Hatchet Hills. He’ll pretty much send you to a flaming doom in the process of reaping every piece of treasure Zul’Aman has to offer, but a tough shield and a couple of dedicated healers will tend to your continual well being. In fact it’s highly recommended the group setup looks something like this: two tanks, three healers, one melee dps, four ranged dps (out of which a mage and a warlock are a must, with bonus points for shadowpriests). “Looking for Zul’Aman class raid” won’t be that uncommon, so basically you have one of each class. Once inside, buffed and ready, you should wait the rogue NPC and then the click the gong to your left. Everyone should hit it at least once. It isn’t the brightest of idea to make some noise when entering a deadly fortress, thus as the gates open, many non elite trolls rush you for an AoE fest, along with two elite guards. They don’t hit too hard and one tank can hold two targets throughout the instance, with proper healing. Throughout the instance elites hit for 1500-2500 on plate so guys dressed in full epic Karazhan items won’t have any problem passing the gear check. Anything less requires extra care, skill and wipes, but it’s doable.

Nalorakk versus Misha

Zul’Aman is special in many ways, but one thing will strike you from the very beginning: there isn’t much trash to clear. All you have to do is descend to the right, grab the patrol, and keep going right for five more packs and there you have the first boss. It’s that easy and you shouldn’t be taken by surprise and wipe here, because if you engage Nalorakk the Bear Avatar within 20 minutes, you will get extra loot from his hostage. Do you see this power tripping troll? His mask and outfit are native to Zul’Aman; one of the most bizarre, slightly ugly, yet inventive graphical works in all World of Warcraft. Once engaged, he’ll alternate between two phases. In human form he performs a random charge to raid members that are further away, but only hits for 5k on cloth so he can’t one shot anyone. Also expect a mangle type debuff on the main tank which doubles bleeding effects on the target. Feel free to tank and spank until 90% when he turns into a huge bear which incidentally deals bleeding type damage so you need to switch tanks in order to cope. Watch out for the frontal cleave now and top off the tank because Nalorakk uses an area of effect silence which damaged for 1k and lasts for 3 seconds. Even with strong dps the fight lasts long so expect another bear form at 60% and 30%. He stays furry for about 15% so just taunt and burn him down fast once he’s human again.

Congratulations, your raid just got two free epics on par with Black Temple/Hyjal loot. Each of the four avatars holds a hostage, member of Red’s prospector team most likely. Poor Tanzar is a troll and he resides in the cage nearby. Talk to him and receive his thanks. Having your entrails sacrificed to the forest gods is not a pleasant way to go, thus generous gratitude is understandable. The map Red asked of you is found on this same platform, near the cage. Once you turn the quest in, it’s Amani tusk collection time, along with investigating the terraces of the other three bestial avatars.

sTrolling

Just like the Zul’Gurub modus operandi, there is a choice on who to kill next because the way is clear. We decided to do it the hard way and take on the challenges of Akil'zon the Eagle Avatar, so back you go and turn left from the crossroad near the entrance. Brace yourselves. Even for experienced raiders this is the one of the nerve wrecking Zul’Aman tests of endurance, because if you don’t do it right, you just wipe. Most people are new here, so expect things to go bad a couple of tries. The scout you see in the distance is a mere decoy for what will become a deadly gauntlet race. While it only looks like 3 double pulls and then a mini-boss, reaching the Anash’Ani Tempest is harder than it seems because he keeps spawning guards. Each 30 seconds or so two more troll elites rush in from the rear and need to be picked up by the main tank, along with 4 non elite birds which eventually get AoE. This is where our main tank really shines, because he is a paladin. Druids can do a good job as well, but warriors always have troubles with keeping agro on multiple targets. As a mage you’ll have serious mana issues, as your arcane explosions get supplemented by the warlock’s seed of corruption and whatever area of effect spells raid members have to offer. The key is for tanks to properly pickup targets while everyone is moving as one, up the slope.

Akil’zon - tougher than Stormherald

I’m always amazed how fast one can reach the next boss. It’s either wipe or 7 minute of trash clearing and now the Eagle Avatar Akil’zon waits at the end of the stairs, ready to make your life miserable. Timed loot is available only if you manage to engage the boss within 20 minutes from the last kill. Unfortunately there are always delays for resurrections, buffs and loot rolling when people are new to the instance. Not to mention the fact that once you release a prisoner from his cage, he roleplays all the way to the chest and takes his time to unlock it.

Akil’zon may not look much, he hits like a girl and his favorite random sport is lifting people in the air, laughing as they take fall damage. He also fires a random chain lightning type spell which forks in all directions from the primary targets and hits for about 4.5k leaving a stacking 50% increase in nature damage debuff. It is a good idea to spread around the boss evenly. This alone can’t kill anyone, but the joke’s on you. Roughly each minute he targets a random group member except for the highest on the agro list, lifts it 10 yards above ground and charges him with electricity.

Every raid member will not take increasingly more nature damage in ticks starting from 500, then 1000, 1500 and 2000 each two seconds. If you’ve had the misfortune to see a tornado in real life, then you’d know there is one safe spot to be found, precisely in the eye of the storm. This translates to running as fast as possible to the guy flying above. Just look for the big shadowy spot on the ground. Tanks must also run and drag the boss along, because everyone is running and healing will be scarce. I find it easier for everyone to clump up 5 seconds before the storm comes, since it’s the only way you can wipe here. The problem is that sometimes bad luck causes you to lose raid members due to the long walk and lack of instant heals. The storm itself only lasts about ten seconds, but it’s enough, considering that some will have nature damage taken amplified by a lot. In four to five storms Akil’zon should be cut down to size, relinquishing his avatar’s spirit back to Zul’Jin.

Harkor, the little dwarf prisoner, is clearly impressed, as you arrived just in time to save his hide. Free loot again, but here’s where it gets harder and 20 minutes doesn’t feel like enough time anymore. Jump to the other side of the terrace and be ready to enter yet another gauntlet, leading to the Jan’alai, the Dragonhawk Avatar. But that’s a story for tomorrow.

Just released this Halloween night, Monster Mega Mayhem is a casual adventure title with a twist, the latest creation of independent developer Icevalk. I was going to tell you all about this Halloween’s productions, with a scent of horror and a taste for the thrill, since The Witcher just hit the shelves, along with Hellgate London and Clive Barker’s Jericho but I changed my mind. These were all long awaited games which will enthrall your senses for months and years to come, thus I chose Monster Mega Mayhem’s simple yet effective play. In the flash-like game, tree monsters will slash, claw and rip as you command, three characters each with a different background. It’s a small jewel of relaxed gaming and you can take it in all at once, so read right on for a sample of storyline ingenuity and catchy gameplay.

First we have Jack, a native of Moonwalker Ranch which basically prompts him as a mix between Michael Jackson and the Pumpkin King (from Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas). Jack is a friendly pumpkin monster but has a problem with trick or treaters. As he puts it, last year they carved a pumpkin he went in school with and that demands retribution. Now buddy Branden got killed by his brother Eric, so you must become a messenger of vengeance. Swinging the reaper’s blade never gets old and that’s what Jack does best, except maybe for his classic move. As a special, he takes off his pumpkin head and bows for full effect.

Lucy is the vampire type, fresh from the graveyards of Gothic City - Romania. If it’s not Gotham, then Gothic will have to do. She loves to turn into a cloud of bats and haunt its victims, for you see, the evil Half Dollar mastermind sent fans to cut down her ancient oaks. The blatant 50Cent reference made my day so you can check out the in-game billboards for a good image. That’s what Monster Mega Mayhem is all about, making fun of real life clichés as your sidekick on this level is Batgirl herself. There are two main abilities each of your characters can use, one being a form of attack while the other a type of scare. Halloween would not be complete without tricks (and treats) so the three avatars need to scare someone in order to advance each level.

Kevin is the quiet one and lets the chainsaw do most of the talking, a regular habit between Frankenstein style children born out of recycled flesh and circuitry. His “father” Viktor created him for the sole purpose of killing Uwe Hohl, the worst director of all times. It seems he’s going to mutilate Farcrow next in his movie, yet another piece of gaming goodness thrown to the dogs. The developers say that each and all connections to people alive or dead are purely coincidence, so I guess there’s no way in hell all this can be translated into Uwe Boll and Farcry. Be sure to notice the big bad bouncer at the theatre entrance. He needs to be scared, in this case, a joke in German.

With each level you must raise the score higher by scaring characters or clawing at them for moderate blood effects. You don’t have all day though, since the small bomb at the lower middle of the screen acts like a timer. The fuse eventually runs out as your avatar moves frantically faster. Maybe you can get that last kill and complete the level in time. Monster Mega Mayhem has the casual addictive feel of time wasters and does it with a taste for comedy. I came to appreciate the real life tie-ins for a good laugh and eventually this crazed story pushed me further in completing the levels. You too can give it a shot by trying the demo.

Sometimes we need a little bit of adventure in our lives to make it more interesting or bring some color that would chase away the boredom. From the series of “play-fast-and-bang-each-level”, I will present now Advent Rising, another game coming from Majesco. The conflict between humans and various alien races has been the source of inspiration for many games and movies, and I was wondering if this game would bring anything new to the table. Well, just by using a modified version of the Unreal 2 Engine (one of the best I might add), the action appears to be more vivid, but the graphics (especially the water renderings) are simple and in many cases pretty modest. You will see many elements from other games, like the faces of the main male characters.

The game story begins when Gideon Wyeth arrives at Luriam, a small outpost in orbit around the planet Edumea, where a gigantic extraterrestrial spaceship has arrived. He meets up with his brother Ethan and does a little (re)training. While hanging out at the bar, a crazy marine, Bud threatens them but Ethan and Gideon give him some serious smacks. The player has the choice of either capturing or killing Bud and this will affect how marines see and help him later in the game.

Intro Movie

Gideon receives his orders and heads to the alien ship, escorting the ambassador diplomat to meet the aliens. They are told of the Seekers, an alien species bent on destroying humanity, which are to arrive at Edumea very soon and destroy it. But it does not take long, and the Seekers arrive in the system, and Gideon is forced to return to the outpost, carrying his wounded brother. After shooting down the Seeker armada and rescuing his fiancée, Olivia, Gideon is faced with choosing between helping Ethan or Olivia aboard an escape pod. This choice will decide which opponent the player will have to face in the end, because no matter which person he decides not to help is unable to make it to an escape pod themselves, and is captured by the Seekers. These Seekers look rather like some giant reptiles (I would call them “reptilians”) and they carry heavy weaponry. From this point on, any choice has from little to no impact of the outcome of the game ending.

First Encounter

The escape pod crashes on Edumea and Gideon gets medical attention for Ethan or Olivia (depending on the choice the player made). While finding out about a big disaster threat coming from the Seekers, Gideon goes with Ethan/Olivia to find a way off the planet. Meteorites begin raining down upon the planet (and damn they are many, almost impossible to dodge!) and Gideon finds Captain Marin Steel, who agrees to help them fly away from the planet. While getting out of the atmosphere, a series of asteroids hit and destroy Edumea. They try to find survivors and Gideon scans the radio waves for distress signals, though only to find an offering of assistance to any humans from the Aurelians, the friendly alien race they encountered earlier. After meeting the Aurelian leaders, Gideon learns that humans have divine properties, and asks to be taught how to master them.

the escape

the rescue

While Gideon discovers his mystical powers, the Aurelian ship is attacked by the Seekers. These guys don’t know when to quit, do they? With all the efforts to protect the ship, the whole place is destroyed and they are forced to “jump” on the Seeker ship, which would crash in the Aurelian Sea. The ship must be evacuated because it sinks, and Ethan/Olivia drowns with it. Ok, hold on there, this game seems to be both pointless and dramatic at the same time – so the upshot is that no matter what Gideon does, he loses his loved ones and he still dreams about them on the shore of the Aurelian Sea, after the crash. Gamers most of the times have this attitude of not getting involved into the story too much but they should think for a second – what if they were the characters in such a story as the one on the screen…

almost losing faith...

After retreating to the Aurelian capital of Arnis with Marin, Gideon and the surviving Aurelian leaders ask the government for assistance, though their effort is interrupted by the arrival of a Seeker who claims he knows nothing about the attack against the planet Edumea. Gideon attempts furiously to kill him, but he is able to escape. Marin is captured by the Seekers and Gideon sets out to rescue her. After destroying their bases (and again – they are many – these Seekers are ugly, evil and many, with lots of resources at their disposal – no wonder they have a reputation of conquerors). After the destruction of the final base, all the Seeker threat seems to be removed.

saving Marin

Gideon and Marin come to the galactic council to ask for help in punishing the Seekers for the killing of the human kind. The council believes the testimony and turns to the Seeker representatives for an explanation. While the representatives defend their race's innocence, and also start using their guns, Olivia/Ethan (depending on which one Gideon failed to save earlier) teleports into the council chamber as Koroem, a creature who claims to be a “true” human with godlike powers. Koroem takes credit for destroying the humans that were considered “imposters”.

Council Scene

Gideon has to use his demigod power to defeat the big alien being, and after the final blow he is attracted into a big portal towards an ice world, full of snow and cold temperatures, while Marin is left alone in the council chamber. Because of the decreased temperature, Gideon almost dies when a mysterious horned being appears and says: "Come with me human, there is much to be done" and that’s the ending of the game.

Only "Human"

The sound in the game didn’t bring anything special, but the music is really impressive, it shows the emotion of the moment in each instance of the game. It is one of best soundtracks I’ve encountered so far. The theme songs that are introduced in “official” meetings between the humans and the Aurelians give the aspect of continuity of the story. However, even if you will see “to be continued” at the end, you may never see a second and a third game as Majesco hasn’t given any sign of working on the project any longer. It could have been continued under the form of a game like “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” – I was particularly impressed with the movie-like graphic effects there.

Digitainment Mark: 7 out of 10

Producer: Majesco

Buy: about $30

Website: http://www.adventtrilogy.com and at Majesco's website: http://www.majescoentertainment.com/catalog/works/adventrising_pc.php