One, Two...Freddy's Comin' For You: A Nightmare on the NES

by Michael J. Gonsiorek Jr.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m sort of in love with the character Freddy Krueger, I even named my puppy after him – I’m kind of twisted that way. Before my love of the burned dream stalker came to fruition during high school, I played the NES game with minimal knowledge of who the gloved one was. I think as a child I expected the game to be as scary as the movies, and that is what drew me in initially. As kids, we usually don’t know the difference between terrible and good, and even if I did,a lot of the time I would chalk up things that made the A Nightmare on Elm Street game seem bad to a high difficulty. Playing the game as an adult has become a test of my skills, which are apparently lacking.

With that said, A Nightmare on Elm Street is a terrible game. However, unlike certain internet celebrities, I will not be defecating on the game, because it is enjoyable in a way. If one compares it to the Friday the 13th game also made by LJN, A Nightmare on Elm Street is ten times better. Friday the 13th's awful map system, and Jason's lack of awesomeness when compared to Freddy are a just couple of the cons; but that’s just me being biased toward the clearly superior horror villain. Jason is like a dumb frat boy or the Hulk, whereas Freddy seems like a witty, intelligent art freak since he is so creative with his deaths. Jason sees and Jason smashes, whereas Freddy paints a canvas with your blood.

This game is a side-scrolling platformer based on the third film, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Your goal is to go through the game collecting Freddy’s bones and destroy them in a fire to purge him from this world once and for all. The character you play does not have a name as far as I know, and can only jump and punch to avoid or attack enemies. This isn't the most ideal skill set when going against ants, gigantic flies, rats, and the other ghoulish creations tossed at you by the game

Where A Nightmare on Elm Street falls most short is the playability of the game. The first level is a total joke. There is still a bit of a challenge there for "n00bs", but after a couple of playthroughs I was able to complete the stage without getting hit. However, like a bear on a tricycle attempting a ramp, its difficulty level becomes too steep. The second level isn’t atrociously hard, but you get enemies that follow you and re-spawn instantly when killed. The degree of difficulty continues to increase in this drastic manner with each new level.

The design of the game is one of its biggest faults. When you begin, you are on what is presumably Elm Street. I could assume that this Elm Street is running all the way through Springwood, but there are no intersecting streets shown. Therefore, this is the longest block in the world that encompasses four well-spread out houses, a high school, a cemetery, and a junkyard. Epic geography fail aside, the block is broken up like this: house, house, house, high school, Freddy’s house, cemetery, and junkyard. The first three houses are the first three levels. A logical game design would call for the first house to be the first level, yes? This, unfortunately is not the case with A Nightmare on Elm Street. The first three levels are randomly selected: so, it could go second house, third house, first house for the progression of stages. Makes sense? Not really. What makes it worse is that a few of the houses have open doors, but that doesn’t mean you can go in them, it’s just the default design of the house.


That closed door actually means you should enter.

Instead of a health meter, you have a sleep meter. It decreases no matter what you do. The meter can be replenished if you drink a cup of coffee, but if you allow it becomes empty, the screen gets wavy and you are in dreamland. In dreamland, the enemies become slightly more difficult, but you can become alternate forms of your character. There is a javelin throwing athlete, a ninja that can throw either ninja stars or daggers, and a necromancer that can jump higher than any of the other characters and shoot magic. These characters are also usable during the boss battles, which is good because the thought of only being able to punch these bosses would be too much to handle.

You do fight Freddy but it’s usually manifestations of him. For example, the first stage boss is his gloved handed tethered to balls. After the second boss they are no longer tethered to balls and fly about randomly while usually spewing out little enemies for you to destroy. In other words, they become extremely frustrating and annoying to kill. The second to last boss has two randomly flying parts to kill. I’ve never made it that far.

If you stay in dreamland too long, the old Freddy jump rope song that begins, “One, two… Freddy’s coming for you” begins to play. After it plays for a certain amount of time, you will face off against Freddy. The screen goes black and says “Freddy’s ™ coming". I didn’t know you could trademark a common name. Getting back on track, the conflict with Freddy is pretty simple. He slashes at the air, and jumps all over the place. As long as you stay out of the way, he is not a threat. The regular level bosses are much more of a challenge than him.

On that note, I should mention that I cannot beat this game because becomes too hard. You get five hits per life, five lives per continue, and only three continues. When you beat a Freddy boss, you get a key which earns you a free life, but it’s still too hard. Between the occasional bad jumps, you have a nonstop wave of things trying to kill you. It doesn’t help that the flying enemies after the first level will follow you. Imagine jumping over a chasm, to get hit mid jump by a heat-seeking bat or fly, and then falling in said chasm.


LJN, that's not how the finger knives really work. There's a glove, love. A glove.
I hate to review a game without beating it, but I just can’t do it. If I put in a month of practice, maybe I could get there. To give you an example of frustration at its fullest, right before fighting Freddy (who is as easy as the other times he gets beckoned by his song while in the dream world) you have to fight every boss all over again. Faced with this situation, I would probably break my TV in frustration.

Trash or treasure, take your pick; A Nightmare on Elm Street is worth playing, if only to see a truly uninspired game. Despite its poor design and intense difficulty, I think true Nightmare fans should give this game a go. If you are like me, and can’t get enough Freddy Krueger, welcome to a video game nightmare.

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org, oldgamesclub.com, analogmedium.com

Freaking and Geeking Out with Resident Evil 2

by Michael J. Gonsiorek Jr.

When I was a kid, this family on my block got me blacklisted from borrowing games. My father had to go over to their house to demand our game back since they seem to be taking their sweet time returning it. What does this have to do with Resident Evil 2? Well, that's how I got introduced to it silly.

I grew up going to a Catholic elementary school from kindergarten to eighth grade, and Resident Evil seemed like a hard sell to my parents. This was a stupid assumption since at the age of five my father took me to see Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, which was a Nightmare on Elm Street movie that had a 3D sequence. I also got a copy of Mortal Kombat 2 for one of my birthdays within the seven to ten age range. Clearly, my parents didn’t feel they needed to shield me from things that supposedly would make me snap. Despite all this, my first experience with survival horror would have to be in the secret.

The tale starts with borrowing a copy of Resident Evil: Director’s Cut from a fellow classmate one faithful Friday. Clearly, my father would be aware that he did not buy this game for me. Since our PlayStation was situated in the family room, I had to wait until people were sleeping to play. Around midnight, my father retired to bed. Like a ninja, I sneaked away to my book bag and took out the game. Let’s stop and visualize for a moment here. It had to be around 1998, and I was 10 or 11, playing Resident Evil: Director’s Cut for the first time...in the middle of the night. Needless to say that the part with the hall with the dogs jumping through the windows unannounced probably made me want to crap myself.

Again, you are probably asking yourself what this has to do with Resident Evil 2, which is a good question. With this version of Resident Evil: Director’s Cut there was a demo disc for RE2. At some point over the weekend, I dabbled in this game. No great stories can be brought forth regarding my first play of the game, but it must have left an impression because I became a maniac for these types of games. My earlier review of Silent Hill and seeing Freddy movies when I was five should give you the impression that I love, love, love all things horror. Even the first dog I got last year was dubbed Freddy, after the best horror villain ever, and let me tell you that this puppy can be quite the nightmare at times.

First off, Resident Evil 2 is a bit grander in scheme than its predecessors. There tends to be a lot more to explore in this game; or at the very least more to see. We start our adventure as either Claire or Leon in a decimated Raccoon City. It is easy to see that there is very little that could be done to help return this metropolis to its former glory. Cars are on fire, zombies roam, and bodies lay decaying in the streets. It’s complete carnage. From the starting point you need to make it to the police station. Once there, you have to solve puzzles at a police station. This particular police station seems to get a ton of funding to finance the ridiculous puzzles that are in place to ensure no one finds out what is truly going on there.


Why is it that during a zombie apocalypse there are more gun stores than Starbucks?
There is no need to go into any more detail regarding “all the places that you will go” -- how very Dr. Suess of me. The things I enjoy about this game more than the environment are the protagonists Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Both are a kind of everyday people, although Leon is a rookie cop and it’s his first day. I don’t think he’ll be too worried about making new friends. Claire is trying to find her brother Chris, who was a character from the first game. There are the supporting characters of: Ada Wong, a woman mentioned in the first game, and Sherry Birkin, a little girl separated from her researcher parents.

What has always shined for me in this entry in the Resident Evil series is the story. Granted, 12 years ago when this game was new, the story was top notch. My recent play through ensures that this story is still up to snuff, but the voice acting is pretty laughable. That’s what gives it its charm; the B-movie like presentation of it all. Also, the replay value of the game is very high because both Leon and Claire have an A/B scenario. There are a total of four scenarios to plow through. Each story plays similarly, but there will be different areas that were not accessible before. If your only concern is to play the game once (technically twice, one scenario for each character), I do believe the confirmed order is “Claire A/Leon B”.

What is interesting to note is that the original game was different and had a few changes before it became the Resident Evil 2 that we know. Claire was a motorcyclist called Eliza, and the police station was more of a run-of-the-mill police station and not the unrealistically funded museum it ended up being. Some new characters were introduced and some characters were bigger impacts on the story. For example, Marvin, the black cop that both Claire and Leon both encounter for a brief moment before zombing (like vamping for vampires, zombing for becoming a zombie) out. The game is reported to be as far as 80% complete before being reworked from the beginning. No official explanation was every given but Google Resident Evil 1.5 to find a bunch of info on it. It’s really interesting.


It is a little-known fact that Robert Pattinson's first role was playing Edward Cullum playing the role of a zombie in RE2.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Resident Evil 2 is often overlooked. People tend to favor Resident Evil 3: Nemesis probably due to the character of Nemesis. He’s kind of cool, but he is a lot like Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2.They are both interesting and frightening, but definitely overrated. Without a doubt, Pyramid Head is more foreboding and is a glimpse into something deeper trying to be conveyed. The groundwork for Nemesis was laid down in RE2 whenever you play the characters' B scenario. Mr. X doesn’t pursue as hard as Nemesis, but he is quite intimidating. There is little to his story other than he was sent to get a sample of the G-Virus.

One thing that takes some time to get used to is the clunky controls. When I first booted this up about a week ago, I died and did so often. I chalked it up to most likely playing the game on easy way back in the day and the normal difficulty was maybe too hard for me. Instead of changing difficulties, I soon discovered my struggles were due to the controls. They are without a doubt some of the worst controls. I put them on the same level with early Tomb Raider games, and they could be currently likened to, but are surpassed by, even the recently released Heavy Rain.

While replaying Resident Evil 2, I was really transported back to my childhood, but it is kind of sad to see what the Resident Evil series has become today. Clearly, the game needed a change as the controls made no one happy and all, but to see them reduced to an action-heavy game makes me long to the older, better days. Sure, trying to walk down a hallway was a chore, but it was a fun and scary chore. Now, they aren’t even about zombies anymore. Not like the games gave me nightmares, but there is very little scary elements implemented into them anymore. If I were to play Resident Evil: Director’s Cut right now, I wouldn’t be able to handle the Hunters. They freak my geek out. being a kid. Most adults have a book or movie to take them back to days gone by, but not me. I have zombie-killing and nightmare-invading child killers to do that for me.

Image Credit: vinagreasesino.com, nacionarcade.net, www.bakane.net

Namco Successfuly Captures a Panic Attack on a Disc in Mr. Driller

by Aron Deppert

Mr. Driller is an arcade-style action puzzler that has seen iterations on just about everything that has ever been capable of playing video games, even the long-forgotten Wonder Swan. Mr. Driller's town is being overrun by colored blocks from an unknown source, and it is up to you to guide him through the bowels of the earth to destroy them with your trusty drill. During your adventure you must not only maintain your ever-dwindling air supply, but you also have to avoid getting crushed to death by falling blocks.

Saying that the game play in Mr. Driller is frantic is putting things mildly. As you are drilling, you are creating chain reactions in the realm of blocks above you that could lead to loose blocks falling on your adorable pink head. Seeking shelter under a stable section of blocks that are the same color can buy you some time, since the blocks stick to ones of the same color. While your tiny, frail form is being threatened by death from above, you are fighting to keep your air supply full. The rate that the air disappears suggests that either Mr. Driller's tank has sprung a leak, or he is prone to hyperventilating! You refill the air by gathering little air capsules, which are usually surrounded by “X Blocks” which you loose 20% of your air for drilling through. I often have wished there were Xanax capsules instead, to ease the feeling of impending doom I get while playing this game.


I can has Xanax plz?
My only real beef with this game is the very half-assed attempt at a plot. This type of game isn't really the type that needs a plot to begin with, but if you're going to create one, you might as well do it right. The story is simply stated as, “The town is being overrun by colored blocks! Everybody is in a panic! Quick, call Mr. Driller! GO DRILLER GO! DRILL AS FAST AS YOU CAN!” Then there are some pictures of Mr. Driller and some weird, but cute, blue blobby creatures floating around on the screen. Never once did Namco feel the need to tell us where these blocks are coming from, why they are so dangerous, or that Mr. Driller is Dig Dug's son, which seems like an important detail since this game was originally meant to be Dig Dug 3.

All complaints aside, this game is fantastic and has been a long-time favorite of mine. Bright colors and cute Japanese cartoon graphics come together with berserk action puzzler game play to make Mr. Driller the gem that it is. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who has played any version of it and didn't immediately fall in love, despite the game's high level of difficulty and steep learning curve. Check it out in any way you can get your hands on it, just be sure you have some sort of anti-anxiety medication nearby.

Image Credit: Screenshot, VG Museum

Prince of Persia, the Sand-Free Edition

by Aron Deppert

Prince of Persia was originally released in 1989 for the Apple II, and then ported to most consoles and PCs in 1992. Its creator, Jordan Mechner, set a standard in video games of fluidly moving characters, even on low-powered systems like the NES.

I should have known this game would be hard when the timer at the bottom of the screen informed me I have 60 minutes remaining. Part of me wanted to turn and run away from this relic of a platformer, but I was intrigued, and my love of the PoP: Sands of Time game gave me hope. It was only approximately 35 seconds before I was impaled on a bed of spikes for the first time.

This game is deceptively difficult. When you enter the first level, it is hard not to scoff at the simplicity of it. This is before all of the trap doors, breakaway floor tiles, hidden spikes, and rabid swordsmen are discovered. There are plenty of clues to these perils, but if you are not keen and observe the subtleties of the Prince's environment then you will be crush, stabbed, and impaled time after time. Aside from the environmental obstacles you must overcome, there is the sheer perplexing nature of the world. There were so many diversions and branches from the route to the end that I deeply longed for a map.


This is how I spent most of my time playing Prince of Persia for NES.

If it wasn't for the slick animation, Prince of Persia would be a visual joke. It uses roughly 5 colors, most of which are from a CMYK palate. Playing it brought to mind memories of playing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego on one of my childhood friend's computers. It is worth noting that a remake of this title was released on Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. They both featured heavy color palate and texture enhancements, and the Super Nintendo version boasted 20 levels compared to the original 13.


Too bad this shot is from the demo play...I REALLY could've used a sword!

Even after my short time playing Prince of Persia, it was clear to me that this game was an innovation at the time. When you consider cakewalk games like the Super Mario Bros. series, Mechner and his team reinvented the wheel with this one, in terms of both technical and creative improvements. Despite its ugliness, Prince of Persia offers an infuriating puzzle-platform-action experience that is sure to keep most players occupied for hours, or if they're like me, a few minutes.

Image Credit: Screenshots

Clear Your Sinuses, It's Time For Boogerman

by Aron Deppert

“Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure” sounds too good to be a true game title, doesn’t it? Well, guess again because this isn’t a joke. Boogerman was a side-scrolling platformer released originally on NES, then later on Genesis (the later version is by far superior), and just recently the Genesis version was released on Wii’s virtual console. In the game, you take control of an eccentric millionaire named Snotty Ragsdale. He is on a quest to stop the evil Professor Stinkum from destroying the Earth by donning a cape and jumpsuit and becoming the not-so-super hero Boogerman. He will use his supercharged boogers, farts, belts and jumps to pave way to victory…with your help, of course.

Technically, the game was a good one. The Genesis cartridge was a whopping 24 megabytes and the animation was at 30 frames per second, which was done in an effort to capture a more cartoon-like feel. The control scheme is easy and natural-feeling for anyone who has previously played a game of this type. Players of this game may be reminded of Earthworm Jim by both the look and the playing style of the game…and due to the fact both games were made by Interplay. The game featured some minor voice acting, such as Boogerman yelling “BOOGERS!” when the C button is pressed on the controller. Basically, it’s chalked full of humor appropriate for those of us who are 16 years old or younger (or have the equivalent mentality). Many people criticized the game for this very reason, saying it was simply too inappropriate for the target audience.


One of Boogerman’s many idle animations involves him picking his nose, and then eating it.

The pacing of the game is rather quick, which would seem to pose a challenge to players of a younger age bracket. There were many times when the game seemed to be playing itself, as Boogerman bounced and flicked his way across the Flatulent Swamps. The level design was a little akimbo, featuring many undefined paths through the level. There were hidden doors and warp toilets everywhere, which made it very hard to decide where to go. It was also entirely possible to ignore the alternate paths all together and take a straight shot through each course, ending up in the exact same place you would have ended up taking a short(long)cut.


Somebody should’ve avoided the bean burrito at dinner.

Overall, Boogerman was good for a short burst of fun, but shoddy level design left it feeling like just another side-scroller once the shock value of boogers, farts, burps and loogies wore off. After spending a few hours with Snotty Ragsdale’s alter ego, it really isn’t a surprise that Boogerman didn’t enjoy the longevity that his wormy counterpart did. This would definitely be a game worth checking out if you are the kind of person that can’t stop laughing over a well-placed whoopee cushion, or you just happen to have credits you can’t figure out how to spend on the Virtual Console.



Image source: Screenshots, en.wikipedia.org

Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt!

by Aron Deppert

Imagine this: you are in control of an animal-human mutant creature, with the ability to jump really high and perform devastating spin jumps to decimate the robotic army that wants to take over the world. Sounds familiar doesn't it? Unfortunately, we're not imagining the classic Sonic The Hedgehog. Instead we are imagining it's red-headed step-sibling, Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt!

Before nit picking this game to death, it is worthwhile to address Awesome Possum's (developer Tengen's attempt at creating an eco-hero) one positive selling point, it bears mentioning that there are over 80 lines of digitized voice acting in this game, which was a first for the Sega Genesis. Awesome Possum has some awesome phrases he repeats over, and over, and over again. Such as:

“Ouch!”
“Quit it, bad guy!”
“Let's go!”
“You'll never pollute again!”
“I won! Nya nya nya nya nya!”

The tinny voice of the possum gets old faster than you would imagine, but innovation is innovation so we'll move on to this game's nauseating Sonic wannabe-ness. You are an anthropomorphic creature charged with destroying an evil doctor's (who, in both games has a penchant for robotics) efforts to ruin the world. In both games, the mutie critter under your control can perform a spinning jump to eliminate the evil doctor's robotic minions. Awesome Possum has the disadvantage though, because he has to find a power up in each level to gain his spin jump. Speaking of power ups, the main two, a speed boost and invincibility are ripped from Sonic as well.

Unlike Awesome Possum's blue counterpart, he does not get very varied environments to slay robots in. The first stage, the rainforest, has four sections which are all indiscernible from each other. In the second stage, Awesome Possum has to clean up oceanic pollution. The areas you swim through just seem like someone flooded the rainforest.


One of the many, many identical environments you must suffer through to clean up the environment.

For bonus points, instead of racing through a cool 3D tunnel to grab Chaos Emeralds, you have to answer eco quizzes. The answers are all pretty obvious as long as you read each option presented to you. If you land a correct answer you are rewarded with 10, 000 bonus points and the intimidating panel of animal judges make very creepy happy faces at you.


You better answer correctly...OR ELSE!

Overall, kudos should be given to Tengen for trying to deliver a pro-environment message to kids and for pushing the limits of the current gen's hardware by adding so much voice “acting” (the word acting is used hesitantly here) to a game. Sadly, that's where their originality ended in this wacky, and not-so-charming Sonic The Hedgehog clone. If you're looking to spin jump metal menaces into oblivion, it's best to stick with the real deal.

Image Credit: Screenshots, en.wikipedia.org

Taking a Vacay to “Silent Hill” (But the Childhood Memories Were Better)

by Michael J. Gonsiorek Jr.

It’s hard to believe that 10 years ago “Silent Hill” was first released for the Playstation. I was 12-years-old, and I can say that t first I was not super-impressed with the concept. You see, I was a Resident Evil fanboy, (at that point the series was up to “Resident Evil 2”) and I felt that Konami was ripping off Capcom.

I’d seen previews in video game magazines, but ignored it. The first time I gave it the time of day was when I saw game footage tacked onto a demo disk. Seeing as it required no reading, I figured I would see what it was all about.

My mind was blown.

Each time I reviewed the movie intensified my urge to get my young hands on the game. Fortunately for me, I talked a friend into going halfsies with me on the purchase. It was also lucky for me that the little cell phone and beeper (before everyone and their children had a cell phone) shop that sold video games did not care that a couple of 12-13 year olds were buying a game recommended for 17 and older.

At the time, I had never seen anything like it. The town was so atmospheric; it’s no wonder that it became a character itself. In the light of the day, the player can clearly see that this is a small town down on its luck. Or at least it appears that way since one can never be sure if they are seeing the “true” Silent Hill. The game suffered from what many games at the time did, which was “draw”. Draw is when a game cannot compute fast enough, so sometimes the surrounding area of a character appears blank and the foreground will pop up. The developers used this to their advantage thus the birthing of its trademark fog. When it switched to night or the “otherworld”, it became even more rundown. Streets disappeared and were replaced with rusty chain link grating that seemed to be hovering over a very long drop. There was no fog but the dark was just as thick. While running around at night, it was quite jarring to stumble into a monster. You might poop yourself.


Can you say "anti-aliasing"? Oh, you can't? Shucks...

Unfortunately, the enemy design in this game was sort of disappointing, but I think this only applies because of what the series has brought to the table since then. The enemies worked in this game because what they represented, but they come across as a bit generic. Skinless dogs, a large caterpillar boss, and nurses? Again, let me emphasize that these work for this game because of what they were to represent, but I think the limited graphics didn't lend themselves to the full effect. The later installments showcase a ton of unique, disturbing designs.


Yup, you just dropped a load in your britches. I can smell it!
The thing that made this game so unique and original was that you were an everyday man, and not some beefed up soldier going up against some corporation with a twisted sense of morals. Silent Hill wasn’t even the destination; you crashed along the highway and awoke in the town to find your daughter missing. From there things got strange; which is the least I can say about it. What I found interesting about the story is that it was almost a jab at religion. I don’t think that was the intention, but it does play along the lines of how far some people will go for what they believe. I don’t want to say too much more as to ruin the story. It can be kind of silly, some parts are downright pointless in order to get the best ending in the game, and there were some fairly large plot holes, but there was nothing like it at the time it came out. I cannot stress that enough.

Even though I am hard on it, I think “Silent Hill” deserves a shot. The major gripe I have is that it does not seem to have aged so well. I also feel that the comparisons to its other siblings are unfair, since they have better controls and visuals. I don’t know how they are altering the story, but the re-imagining of “Silent Hill” will be out later this year with the subtitle “Shattered Memories”. Some of the charm will likely be gone, but I hope some of my issues are cleared up.

Writer’s Notes: “Silent Hill” is now available on the Playstation Store, at the cost of $5.99 plus tax. The game can be played on your Playstation 3 or PSP. If you already have a copy of the game, I would not suggest playing it in a Playstation 3 as it causes a high pitch audio squeal whenever you encounter an enemy.

On a related note, there was a movie made based off this game. I won’t divulge too much as it doesn’t fit on this site, and I plan on covering it on my personal blog as I go along with the rest of the “Silent Hill” series. The general consensus is that the movie is out and out terrible. I, on the other hand, beg to differ. I think it is one of the better if not best video game-to-movie adaptations. Again, that is not saying much, but even though the story got a tad messed up (unnecessary sex changes were given to the main character, and enemies from “Silent Hill 2” that do not belong in this universe make appearances) there is no question about it: the look and feel of it was pretty damn accurate. If you are wary of playing “Silent Hill”, suggesting the movie might be a bad move to make but I advise to check it out. It will give you a feel for how the stories are to a degree. It follows the first game, but changes were made. Harry is now a woman, Cheryl’s name is changed to Sharon for some reason, and characters roles are flipped around. It’s so disappointing because there was so much potential there with the scenery, but halfway through the story kind of falls apart.