The character models share visual quality with very early next-gen titles. Between the lackluster effects, muddy textures, horribly inconsistent frame rate, bugs, seemingly randomly placed loading points, and persistent clipping issues, Damnation is more technically similar to a Playstation 2 or Xbox title — and not a very good one at that. Damnation attempts to bring something new to the third-person shooter genre.
Instead of being straight up action like Gears of War , it also tries to implement platforming elements a la Tomb Raider and Uncharted. Unfortunately for Damnation , it misses the mark entirely in both categories. While Damnation gives you a nice arsenal of guns to play with, none of them work as intended.
Also, the AI is borderline retarded. Don't diss New Jersey. You New Yorkers clogg our beautiful beaches. Album Rating: 2. Symphony X comes from there, so that counts for something, doesn't it? The Edge of Forever damn. What the fuck, Sputnik? Edge of Forever is an automatic 4.
Damn I forgot all about this band. So much of their old shit is killer. I need to jam Divine Wings as soon as I get out of work. Symphony X The Damnation Game 4. Symphony X is a very successful metal band who got their start around , with the release of their self titled album. However, this was a poor representation of what was to come. Russell Allen, their new vocalist, joined the band in , and since then the group has shown no signs of slowing down. They have released 4 studio albums, their latest being The Odyssey, their most successful, and recently were featured on the second stage at Gigantour where they proceeded to mount an absolutely slaying set.
We knew it, and he knew it Coincidentally, Rod had introduced to Russell Allen a few months earlier. We gave Russ a call, he came down to the studio and finished the lead vocal tracks in about five days. This was when we decided to go back into the studio, continue writing, and really define our musical style. We knew we could create so much more musically and also in our production. However, The Damnation Game is far from poor.
This cd almost shows the group at their most uninhibited. Even so early in their career, the group showed their versatility as songwriters, composing some absolutely mindblowing riffs and patterns. It also helps that each member is nigh godly at what they do, especially Romeo. Me being a guitarist, I feel compelled to talk about him the most, as he really is the main creative force behind the whole band. He will blow your mind with the riffs he can bust out, yet never does it just for the sake of showing off.
It always fits with the music. Allen is another one of those people who never ceases to amaze. He has an almost operatic voice, which can go from soulful to scathing at the drop of a hat. His harsh vocal work is flawless as well, lending him to be a very entertaining singer. The rest of the band are no slouches either, each breaking out some terrific solos at one point or another yes, even the bass gets time in the spotlight.
It stands to be that Symphony X may be the most complete band in metal today. By far one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I loved this story quite a lot, and I grew connected to the main character in this book more than I have in any book in quite a while.
This bargain or agreement between him and Whitehead 4. There were also many loose ends, certain characters had supernatural abilities that were never fully developed or explained, and the story itself could have been much longer and substantial. This would have brought my rating up to a 5. View 2 comments.
Feb 11, Craig Williams rated it it was ok. I was very disappointed by this book. Barker's "The Great and Secret Show" is one of my favorite books of all time, so admittedly, I have a rather high bar that I expect from him.
Despite my expectations, this piece of shit book simply will not do. When something finally does happen, it's not interesting enough to pay off for the boring lead up.
You know when a book sp I was very disappointed by this book. You know when a book spends most of the story in one setting, you're in for some trouble. The book continues plodding through the mercilessly trite and mundane plot, even going so far as to reveal that Mamoulian, the antagonist, is not the Devil, or indeed, even a devil, but merely a human who had mysteriously gained powers via an enigmatic monk. Well whoopity shit.
This decision seemed to be Barker's way of misleading the reader from the predictable, yet wholly more interesting, revelation of Mamoulian being some sort of an agent of Satan.
Speaking of Mamoulian, I also hated the characters - the protagonist, Marty, depressed the hell out of me, and I couldn't relate to him at all; Whitehead was infuriatingly cryptic, which kept the story going at a crawl; Carys is an annoyingly, mentally unbalanced junkie - yay; and Mamoulian was an innept, and wholly uninteresting, villain. There just isn't much to like with this book. I only gave it 2 stars because I barely managed to slog through it.
The next book of Barker's I plan to read is Weaveworld, which I hear is good, and it better be, or Barker will be put in my literary penalty box, which is ten times more horrifying that that nonsense about Mamoulian's haunted bedroom.
Jan 13, Derek Davis rated it really liked it. Barker, in general, is a heck of a lot better writer than fellow horror icon Stephen King except in King's short stories. He keeps his narrative together with a smooth action curve even when there's little action and restrains himself from having his characters add juvenile comments and sophomoric humor.
His "hero" here, Marty, a semi-parolee, is a nuanced character who learns as he goes, expanding his internal horizons even as the horror slowly mounts.
Indeed, all the characters are full, c Barker, in general, is a heck of a lot better writer than fellow horror icon Stephen King except in King's short stories.
Indeed, all the characters are full, contradictory human beings, with the chemical-industry titan, Whitehead, able to alternate convincingly between unleavened arrogance and small-minded fear. Even Mamoulian, the semi-supernatural villain, has sympathetic qualities. Barker also has an eye for the truly horrific image — a reanimated dog eating its own hindquarters — and delivers what may be the highest maggot-count in history without it seeming pointless verbal shoveling.
So why not the fifth star? Because, unlike King, Barker maintains an authorial distance from his characters — as though watching a lab experiment unfold — that, at least to my mind, dampens the immediacy of the horror. You might well think otherwise. This was a hard one to get through, I wanted something to scare me and instead got something completely different. The very beginning was actually interesting, though quickly turns into a seemingly disjointed multitude of points of view, which only make sense much later in the novel.
This came across as completely unnecessary and only makes it harder to get any traction. It takes a very long time for anything significant to start happening, and then you almost wish it just went back to what it wa This was a hard one to get through, I wanted something to scare me and instead got something completely different. It takes a very long time for anything significant to start happening, and then you almost wish it just went back to what it was before.
What was somewhat interesting at first, quickly reveals being incredibly shallow and from that point on the book becomes utterly boring til the end. At about the halfway point The Damnation Game switches gears and spends most of its length repeatedly trying to gross you out and not very convincingly, actually in what seems like a checklist of sickening depictions and unnecessarily detailed descriptions.
What turned me off the most was the fact that the book doesn't ever try to scare you, it just gets more and more sickening as it goes on. This trope works quite well when it's done once and well , not when every other scene past the halfway point is like "hey, here's some gross stuff I arbitrarily picked from this list!
The writing is all over the place, at times it's surprisingly good, but most of the time it just seems to go out of the way to try to be unnecessarily descriptive about irrelevant things. I actually had to pull up a dictionary several times, and I can't say I feel any more literate now that I know what a coprophiliac is. Overall I don't think there's much for anyone unless you really feel the need to be disgusted - by the events in the story or by the actual book.
If it weren't for my obsession with finishing every book I start I probably would've quit before I was halfway done. I've heard lots of good things about Clive Barker, but after reading The Damnation Game I can't say I'm exactly inclined to check any of his other works. Absolutely excellent book. The Damnation Game was my introduction into the mind of Clive Barker and I now realize why he has received such unwavering praise and adoration from readers. I am also inclined to agree with those aforementioned readers.
This novel was terrific. It hooked me in from the first few pages and I found myself eagerly anticipating the rest of the story. It contained many twisted images of the macabre that Barker has come to be associated with. But it was somehow more than th Absolutely excellent book.
But it was somehow more than that. It was poetic and gloomy in a sense. I felt sympathy for Marty and found myself hoping that things would somehow work out for him. The end is satisfying and the plot is engrossing from page one. I would highly recommend this book. Fantastic read. Nov 27, Kasia rated it liked it. The premise of the story is interesting enough and of course inspired by the infamous German tale of Faust; an unsatisfied scholar makes a deal with the devil for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasure, all he has to give up is his soul.
Who knows of course what happens to our soul but if the devil in the story wants it so bad then I'm pretty sure it has some importance, whether here or there. The Damnation game has it's merits, the mystery and buildup are engrossing and dangerously tantalizin The premise of the story is interesting enough and of course inspired by the infamous German tale of Faust; an unsatisfied scholar makes a deal with the devil for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasure, all he has to give up is his soul.
The Damnation game has it's merits, the mystery and buildup are engrossing and dangerously tantalizing, the release however needs some work and heavy editing, considering that this was the authors first long novel all is forgiven because this is a good read, I'm glad I got to experience it even though it dragged a bit and was too light and relied on too many reader interpretations to rise to the top.
I had the pleasure of reading the newest reprint of this with a new introduction by the author himself which was very nice, whatever critique I give to the book is nothing in comparison to what it takes to write a book, this is his baby, his work of art and I'm happy to say I got to read it even if it wasn't perfect to my taste.
It's still more than I could pull out at my first attempt, I liked the mystery, you have an ex-con taken out of jail to be a bodyguard, you get to like him and care for him until you find out what he has gotten himself into, a place where death and bizarre behavior are step in step with his daily activities, a place where death is noting in comparison to what can await at the end of the riddle. The tale itself is very interesting even if the delivery could have provided an extra punch; you have the rich millionaire hidden in a mansion surrounded by state of the art lighting and top breeds of dogs, a man who is afraid of something that comes with the dark.
He hides in his sauna with his bottle of vodka to forget his troubles, he relies on Marty Strauss, a gambling addict, to keep him safe in the most important game of his live, a game of life and death and a game of endurance, which opponent can outlive the other. There is incest, cannibalism and all sorts of demented things happening, along with gruesome monstrosities that arise even though they should be dead.
The nemesis lets us know that everything is due to chance, fortune belongs to the one who is willing to risk everything on a single throw of the dice. The more there is the stake the easier to throw that dice, so close your eyes and hope for the best, win big or go home. The three start status is because of the pace and the lack of editing, it felt like I was reading the book forever.
I'm usually a speedy reader, I can read a book in a day or stretch it over five days, but this felt like a slow tango, I wish it took me faster though the actual story, but I'm glad I got to experience it, I don't think that anyone should say no to it just because of the rating, what we get out of stories goes beyond star ratings and sales, it's all the good bits that settle down and pull our memory every once in a while, Clive Barker is a serious contender in the horror world of storytelling and he should not be overlooked.
Kasia S. May 20, Lou rated it really liked it. Clive Barker is a talented storyteller who writes with some of the darkest creativity. This is a good story of a game where some characters get into people's minds and see their thoughts and can control them. There is a man set on revenge and the power of resurrecting the dead. Barker has created characters that perpetrate the most henious acts.
He brings to the table a unique writing style where he immerses us into to other dimensions of fear. Jun 27, Joyce Jellison rated it it was amazing. And arguably it was his most Our unnamed POV character, the thief, is seeking a gambler he has heard of, Mamoulian, who never loses, which sounds an irresistable challenge.
And is the sort of thing that never, ever, ever goes wrong, isn't it? Fade to several decades later. Marty Strauss, currently in prison in the UK, is offered a chance for early, highly supervised release to work in the employ of one Joseph Whitehead, exceedingly rich and somewhat reclusive.
And Marty takes the job because, well, he's currently in prison. And this is the sort of thing that never, ever, ever goes wrong, isn't it? And we, as readers, are also privy to a parallel set of events where The Last European rescues one Anthony Breer an altogether unpleasant fellow at the beginning of things; and he only grows more unpleasant, in any number of ways, as the story progresses from suicide by hanging and impresses him to his service as he maneuvers towards a long-delayed confrontation with Whitehead.
And because this is a Clive Barker book, by the end things have gotten truly horrific, and we've had more than our share of viscera and excreta and nightmarish imagery on the pages.
Definitely worth checking out if you're a horror fan; and arguably more approachable than some of his later novels. Feb 13, Tessa rated it it was ok. I've started this review several times now, and can't quite decide on it.
I have a long standing love hate relationship with Mr Barker, I have learned, through long experience that he is either astounding or awful, and there doesn't appear to be a middle ground, but even when his stories are awful his prose is beautiful, it's worth it just for the language. So, the damnation game, his first novel, published just after the Books of Blood but before the hellbound heart.
Chronologically that puts it i I've started this review several times now, and can't quite decide on it. Chronologically that puts it in between a lot of his best work, and this is his most "pure" horror novel. However I can't help but feel he wrote it before the Books of Blood.
It has a sort of naivete that is present in some of those stories, a sort of careful navigation of someone not yet comfortable in his craft, something completely missing from the Hellbound heart where he makes very few mis-steps. Perhaps the problem with this book is simply that, that he wanted to be a horror writer but he's a fantasist and hadn't found his niche yet. The language lacks the lushness, things are done purely for shock value Bella's reappearance in the white room!
The story is one of a thief taken out of prison to serve an old man with a plan if Neil Gaiman didn't have this in mind when he wrote American Gods I'll eat both books and finds himself in this "Sanctuary" where the old man, Whitehead ; Joe; Papa is trying to get out of a covenant he doesn't believe he made with the Last European Mamoulian. It's the con, that's what this book is about, again if American Gods does not owe a huge debt to this book I'm a monkey's uncle, the risen dead slowly rotting, the twisting of it, the cypher like main character caught in the machinations of other people, tricked into death etc I do like Barker's work, even when his stories bore me his prose excites me, I can hold some of his images to my heart like children not necessarily the skinning images or the sadomasochistic wtfery but things like "the sun rose like a stripper" and this book lacked that.
I couldn't help but see parallels with American Gods which I know came much later but I read first and well, I didn't really care what happened to the characters. This was no Aaron Boone, or Cal. I saw foetal forms of things and characters he used later and better. I don't think for an instant that this book came between The books of blood and the hellbound heart, it came earlier, much earlier. I think this was one of those juvenalia all authors write and never intend to do anything about, but with the publisher knocking on his door he shared the idea is brilliant, but the book itself doesn't really carry it.
Jeeeeeez, did this book need a better editor. I was completely and totally bored for the first pages; I would rather watch dust collect than read that waste again. Almost half of this novel is a total chore to get through, and that's why I'm giving this thing three stars. What kept me reading was Clive Barker's lovely prose The Damnation Game is, from a technical standpoint, very well written and the knowledge that this story's pay off would probably be worth my trudging onward.
And I was Jeeeeeez, did this book need a better editor. And I was mostly right. I think the problem with this book is it feels too small and cramped for Barker's imagination. Prior to this, I read the first four volumes in the Books of Blood series.
If the man hadn't written anything else after those, he would almost certainly still be considered a horror legend. Those stories push boundaries: they're abundantly sensual, erotic, horrific. The sheer creativity that is infused in those tales blew me away as I read them.
By comparison, The Damnation Game feels tragically ho-hum and predictable. I know Barker's later novels are more expansive and fantastical, and I'm super eager to get to them. I'd rather read a novel in which Barker fully employs the potential of his imagination, instead of trying to scare me and I must admit this book did chill me a time or two. In essence, this is a modern retelling of the story of Faust: man sells his soul for success, and horror ensues when the seller comes after his payment.
As I said, this novel is very predictable which is so frustrating — I know Clive Barker is better than this!
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