Calyber’s “Ask a Doll” blog brought back some awesome memories of pure carnage that I got to experience at one of our recent events. I am not a blood-thirsty monster (or animal, like she would say); I am simply tickled by how life-like games are becoming these days. If a picture can tell a story of a thousand words, then a game as in-depth as Beowulf tells a story beyond the descriptions “epic,” “larger than life,” and “heroic.” I couldn’t have said it better than Caly herself, “I just made a very inhuman noise in response to you asking about Beowulf… it sounded something like Aiyyeerrghbaa! There’s this part in the demo where you rip the horn off the head of this giant monster, and use it to slide down his throat while brutally cutting it open like Zorro sliding down a red curtain.”

There were other parts about the game that really grabbed my attention as well. So, you know those battle scenes where one man and his handful of followers take on like 50 brutal-looking, barbaric heathens? Now imagine that with this crazy zerg-like ability that allows you to finish them off with these insane closing moves. And by doing so, there’s even more blood, bones and brutality. Then, on top of that, there are wood splints, hidden weapons, barrels and other things that you can use to smash over the top of an enemy’s head. It was surely the most gruesome and excitingly epic game I’ve played in a long while.

I guess it’s arguable that creating fountains of gore out of someone’s corpse is not really life-like, and point taken, but the graphics make these things look like virtual reality – if it could happen, it would happen like this. And to bring the whole thing together, really making the game a quality epic battle comparable to the movie, the voices will be the same familiar voices that you’ll hear throughout the film. Sir Anthony Hopkins (omg, I said Sir) and Ray Winstone (the guy who did the voice of Mr. Beaver in the movie ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’) are going to be adding their vocal touch to Beowulf, the game. And that’s just to name a few! (I wonder if they’ll be using Angelina Jolie’s voice. I can already see the boys lining up at the counters…)

This is their first time doing voice acting for a video game. But think about it, these actors know their character roles better than anyone and studied their parts for a very long time. They know how to channel their energy into expressing intense emotion via their voice and facial expression. That kind of life-long training and experience should really play out well in the game. And on top of that, they have very distinct and powerful voices. I never would’ve thought Hopkins to be the type to do this for a video game, but nonetheless I am delighted.

Hopefully, as part of the Frag Doll superpower perk, I’ll be able to snag a free copy of Beowulf for PC from somewhere up above, perhaps for my 360 as well. If not, then I will be dishing out for both copies, one for achievements and one for pure graphical gory pleasure. Oh man, now I am craving for a fix of eye-stabbing, gut-slashing goodness. Only a couple weeks left to wait, just a couple weeks. *antsy*

*Can’t stop watching the movie trailer, bah!*