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esonetwork · 4 years ago

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'Dead Jack and the Pandemonium Device' Book Review By Ron Fortier

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'Dead Jack and the Pandemonium Device' Book Review By Ron Fortier

DEAD JACK and the Pandemonium Device

By James Aquilone Homunculus House 206 pgs

Every now and then we are introduced to new writer who proves New Pulp fiction is alive and well. Such a writer is James Aquilone and his first novel is a rollicking trip down weird twisted roads unlike anything we’ve ever encountered before. Aquilone has created a madcap world where all manner of bizarre creatures of fantasy exist side-by-side in mirror-like reflection of our own staid and recognizable reality. The world is called Pandemonium and it has five cities; ShadowShade, The Red Garden, Monster Island, Witch End and The Broken Lands. All of them situated in the Broken Sea.

But before we get too far into all this, let’s explain the origin of Pandemonium. During World War II the Nazis recruited three of the greatest wizards of our world to aid them in winning world war. Unfortunately one of these three attempted to betray the other two and in the ensuing conflict a rift was opened into another dimension. The renegade wizard, along with lots of other innocent folks was thrown into this alternate existence that is Pandemonium.

One of these unlucky chaps was a dead private eye named Jack and upon arrival into his new crazy world, he became an animated zombie. Thus it was only natural, or should we say unnatural, that he soon became Dead Jack, the best private detective in ShadowShade. Along with Lilith, his ghost secretary, Dead Jack has a mini-sidekick named Oswald. Oswald is a homunculus which Webster’s Dictionary defines as “a little man, dwarf, manikin.” Imagine the Pillsbury dough boy brought to life with the ability to change his shape at will and that’s Oswald, though a little less cute and a whole lot weirder.

Now Dead Jack does his back to live harmoniously with his fellow denizens and that means keeping his zombie eating habits under control. He does this by ingesting pixie dust, Pandemonium’s version of our own opiates. As the story opens, poor Jack slips and eats a thuggish leprechaun thus forcing him to feel his victim’s angry clan. He and Oswald end up in the hands of the Goblin Queen who is in need of Jack’s services. Unknown forces have kidnapped 52 of Her Majesty’s beloved black cats and she hires the pair to find and return her feline pets.

Why would anyone in Pandemonium steal 52 cats? As Jack and Oswald investigate they slowly begin to fathom a much more dangerous conspiracy at work; one that could bring about the total destruction of Pandemonium and all its inhabitants. But can this inept duo solve the puzzle in time, unmask the real villain and save their eerie-wacky world? Writer James Aquilone doesn’t spare a pun or warped joke along the way as he puts his really charming dead hero through his paces in one of the most enjoyable adventures we’ve ever read.

“Dead Jack and the Pandemonium Device,” is an original romp that never lets up from start to finish. And if that weren’t enough, there’s the bonus of two extra features at the back of the book. We’d also be remiss in not applauding the book’s design, the gorgeous cover by Colton Worley. Then, unlike most New Pulp publishers, we’re offered two beautiful interior illustrations by artist Ed Watson. Our only gripe – why just two? This book begged for more.

Final thoughts, James Aquilone is a new voice in the New Pulp community. One you need to support big time!

#book review #Dead Jack and The Pandemonium Device #ESO Network #James Aquilone #Pulp Book Review #Pulp Fiction #Ron Fortier

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endofgreenofficial · 6 years ago

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A Captive State

Development

In December 2016, four months leading to the development of To The Extinction, Square Enix and WB Games began to develop the video game adapation of Tom Hoffman's Beneath a Captive State. In February 2017, Annapurna Interactive won their development rights for A Captive State and To The Extinction. By that month, Annapuna Interactive had reportedly stealing over $500,000 during the development of A Captive State.

In June 2017, Square Enix and Annapurna Interactive unveils the 60 second teaser trailer of A Captive State, following the gameplay reveal of To The Extinction at E3 2017.

By May 2018, Square Enix released their first official trailer of A Captive State and ensured its first gameplay footage at E3 2018. The trailer features Killing Joke's "Pandemonium". The first gameplay footage shows the raid in Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center, while one of the many playable characters, Brian "Jurgis" McPhee, attempts to escape the Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center alongside his friends Rafe and Frank. The gameplay footage received widespread attention, but the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, said A Captive State depicts the city of Chicago in a war between the alien race and the US military, FBI and the Chicago Police Department. The game is yet to be banned in Chicago, due to the depiction of its city torn apart in the brink of an alien invasion, but the US military, FBI and the Chicago Police Department are also depicted as the major antagonists. Kody Theo, Vic Kamanga, EJ Wilkes, and Jared McKenna, who played Rula, Rafe, Gabe, and Jurgis in A Captive State, said the game was look similarly with Grand Theft Auto 5, Fallout 4, Red Dead Redemption 2, and InFamous: Second Son. "Because the story took place in the landlocked North American city of Chicago, A Captive State will feature the US Marine Corps and not feature the US Navy, but only the US Coast Guard remained appear in Lake Michigan. ", producer Megan Ellison explained. On 5 November 2018, three storyline DLCs for A Captive State had yet to be released; The Brothers Conway, The Tale of Jurgis, and I Am Rula. On 10 November 2018, ahead of the Veteran's Day, the fourth and final DLC would proved to be The Beginning of an End, the first part (takes place between 1989-1991) tells about Colonel Charles Levitt's betrayal of his fellow soldier named Sergeant Alan Rittenhouse, but the second and final part (takes place between 1986-1988) tells about FBI Agent Stuart Kermode's investigation after the alien invasion assisted by the Chicago PD officers. "Aside from the White Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos, lots of many several pedestrians and NPCs around Chicago, mainly foreigners from South Asia, East Asia, Scandinavia (excluding Finland), and Eastern Europe.", developer Square Enix explains. A Captive State is yet to be permanently banned in Chicago metropolitan area, with many retailers such as GameStop, Best-Buy and Walmart are decided to not release A Captive State in every cities and towns in Chicago metropolitan area. The game is yet to be rated M by ESRB and 18 by PEGI, due to the depictions of violence and obscenity.

The trailer shown in each four main characters:

- Jurgis (Prong - Beg To Differ)

- Rula (Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World)

- Rafe (Parliament - Flash Light)

- Gabe (Naughty by Nature - OPP)

Music and soundtrack

In May 2017, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross began to making the original score of A Captive State, but it contains many elements of the late 1980s to early 1990s electronic music. Most of the radio stations in A Captive State had many lore friendly and licensed songs from the 1970s through the 1990s, supported more than 500 songs available. The soundtrack also features many bands and musicians from the 1980s and the 1990s, such as Killing Joke, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Korn, Ministry, Godflesh, Pitchshifter, Prong, Machine Head, Anthrax, Biohazard, Fear Factory, Annihilator, Voivod, Black Flag, Husker Dü, Dinosaur Jr, Neurosis, Rollins Band, Fugazi, Social Distortion, Madball, Quicksand, Helmet, Faith No More, Rage Against The Machine, The Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, and many more. Besides that, it also features many hip-hop artists of the late 1980s to the 1990s, most notably NWA, Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Dr Dre, Wu-Tang Clan, and Beastie Boys. Nonetheless, it also features many electronic music artists from the 1990s, most notably Autechre, Aphex Twin, Cabaret Voltaire, Orbital, Underworld, Massive Attack, The Prodigy, Meat Beat Manifesto, Drexciya, Cybotron, and 808 State. "There is no black metal and death metal bands on Chicago Hardcore", developer Square Enix explains.

Radio stations in A Captive State:

- The Mix 99.9 (pop, adult contemporary, teen pop, R&B, dance pop)

- Adrenaline 90.4: based on WCSF (post-80s synthpop, grebo, industrial rock, alternative dance, big beat, acid house, techno, garage)

- Chicago Hardcore: based on WPJX (thrash metal, groove metal, crossover thrash, hardcore punk)

- Chicago Rock Radio: based on WKQX (alternative rock, punk rock, pop rock, hard rock)

- Juvenile 101.5: based on WLUW (alternative metal, post-hardcore, grunge, noise rock, emo, math rock, indie rock)

- New Era 102.8: based on WDRV (classic rock, adult contemporary, power pop, blues rock)

- Radio Outlaw (country, rockabilly, southern rock)

- Shangri-La FM (world music, worldbeat, tribal fusion)

- Radio El Dorado (latin jazz, latin funk, salsa, mambo)

- Melody FM: based of WFMT (classical, opera, gospel, new age)

- The Beatz 95.1 (west coast hip-hop, gangsta rap)

- East Coast FM (east coast hip hop, alternative hip hop)

- Willows 103.4 (synthpop, new romantic, post punk, new wave)

- Chicago Underground Radio (IDM, trance, techno, ambient, house, glitch, drum and bass, electronica)

- The Rhythm 92.5 (new jack swing, ska, R&B, funk, disco, nu jazz, soul)

- Wax Trax! FM (post-industrial, EBM, electro-industrial, industrial metal)

- WIND (news, talk show)

- WKTA (ethnic talk show)

- WMVP (sports talk show)

- Croydon FM (IDM, electronica, ambient, UK garage, trip hop, trance, downtempo, techno, drum and bass)*

- Thames Rock Radio (britpop, madchester, alternative rock, post punk, new wave)*

- Radio Covenant (industrial, post-industrial, EBM)*

- The Slate 87.6 (alternative metal, grunge, post-hardcore, indie rock)*

- Radio X (thrash metal, hardcore punk, crossover thrash, groove metal, punk rock)*

- Calcutta Sounds (ragga, bhangra, world music, worldbeat, Indian, Pakistani)*

- Jamaica FM (reggae, dancehall, rocksteady)*

- BBC Radio One (news, talk show)*

- BBC Radio Four (comedy talk show)*

(* added in The Tale of Jurgis DLC)

Release and marketing

On June 25, 2018, Square Enix and WB Games dates A Captive State for February 1, 2019 release. However, by November 27, 2018, the game was shifted for many weeks to January 18, 2019, to avoid competing with Capcom's Resident Evil 2 remake and Microsoft Studios's Crackdown 3. In December 2018, Vive Studios teaming up with Square Enix and WB Games for the upcoming VR version of A Captive State. On 15 December 2018, Funko announced the Funko Pop and Mystery Minis based on the characters of A Captive State, these including; Gabe Conway, Rafe Conway, Rula McPhee, Jurgis McPhee, Carrie Conway, Danny Howells, Ellison, The Disciple, Legion Horde, US Marine, Chicago PD officer, FBI agent, Alan Rittenhouse, Agent Stuart Kermode, Colonel Charles Levitt, The Illusive Woman, and The Illusive Man. On 23 December 2018, Square Enix announced the prequel to A Captive State, called Beyond Omission: The Tale of Jurgis McPhee and Rafe Conway, an adventure game that let's you play as Jurgis and Rafe in Chicago during the years 1989 and 1990, and it will exclusively availaible through Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android devices on 1 February 2019. Beyond Omission is also being work into the graphic novel by Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen (who had previously adapted A Captive State graphic novel in 2018)

Did You Know?

In the 2018 video game To The Extinction, when the flashback took place in 1975, a group of British soldiers discovers the remains of the Legion Horde in Orkney islands. Almost 15 years later, they re-emerged from the remains of the nuclear radioactivity. The gameplay shows Miles Keller and Alice Brennan fights off against the Legion Horde, while discovering the alien artifacts around Grain Earth House in Orkney. These later mentioned in A Captive State, in Rula's journal.

PS4/Xbox One/Steam achievements of A Captive State revealed:

- A New Beginning: Complete all main storylines.

- Wasted of Time: Complete all side missions

- 100% Made: Reach 100% completion

- Money Maker: Collect a cash with reaching $1,000,000.

- I'm a Billionaire: Collect a cash with reaching $1,000,000,000.

- Casualty: Kill everyone! (1000 times)

- Gang Banger: Kill 500 gang members, anarchists, drug addicts, and cultists.

- Death Before Dishonor: Kill 500 soldiers of the US Army or the US Marines.

- Not a Kind of Astrology: Kill 500 Scavengers.

- Pork Chopped: Kill 500 police officers, sheriff, state troopers, and SWAT teams.

- What Kind of Detective?: Kill 500 FBI or CIA agents

- Bookworm: Read and Collect any books

- No Superheroes Allowed: Read and collect any comic books or graphic novels

- Missing Link: Read and Collect any journals and diaries.

- Remix!: Collect any mixtapes

- Rewind: Collect any video journals

- Repeated: Collect any audio logs.

- Photographed: Take 50 photos and videos

- Hiking or Jogging?: Walk more than 1 kilometres on foot

- Bullets Flying: Dodge 20 gunfires

- Street Fighter: Kill everyone 100 times while brawling with bare hand

- Fly Swatter: Kill everyone 100 times with non-bladed melee weapons

- Meat Chopper: Kill everyone 100 times with bladed melee weapons

- Gunslinger: Kill everyone 100 times with handguns

- Marksman: Kill everyone 100 times with sniper rifles, crossbows and compound bows

- Full Metal Jacket: Kill everyone 100 times with machine guns or submachine guns

- Rifleman: Kill everyone 100 times with rifles

- Kaboom!: Kill everyone 100 times with explosives

- Smells Like Barbecue: Kill everyone 100 times with flammable weapons

- Lasers Everywhere!: Kill everyone 100 times with laser and energy weapons.

- Drive Angry: Kill everyone 100 times while riding/on a car

- Road Rash: Kill everyone 100 times whole riding/on a motorbike

- Death from Above: Kill everyone 100 times while riding/on a helicopter or plane

- Cannonball Run: Kill everyone 100 times while driving/on a tank or APCs.

- I'm Not A Pirate: Kill everyone 100 time while riding/on a boat

- I'm Hungry: Have 30 foods eaten

- So Thirsty: Have 30 drinks consumed

- Dead Meat: Cannibalize anything 30 times.

- No Hiding: Perform 30 stealth attacks

- Adrenaline!: Perform 30 executions

- Dead Beat: Do 30 critical hits.

- Blood Sport: Complete 5 fight club challenges

- Rampage!: Complete 5 rampage challenges

- Taxi Driver: Complete 5 taxi challenges

- Not a Bounty Hunter: Complete 5 hitman or assassination challenges

#captive state #chicago

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