Archive - 2012

Camping Manager 2012 – Review (PC)

2012/10/12

Ok so those of you who read us on a regular basis know I am a sucker for strategy and simulation games which are basically a strategy game using construction instead of construction and destruction. Sure when I agreed to review Camping Manager I figured I wouldn’t be building armies but I would be trying to strategically build a campground that would meet all the criteria to win. Building sim games are old and have been around almost as long as computer gaming and some are made in a way that makes you feel that old school nostalgia while having far better graphics. Excalibur Publishing has done just that in Camping Manager.

Storyline:

You have been given starting funds to create campgrounds all over Europe and must fulfill certain criteria to be successful to your investors. Succeed and you get to start up a new site with new funds, fail and you might find yourself living in one of the properties.

Graphics And Audio (Atmosphere):

There is a style to the buildable items very reminiscent of the old school building sims though with much cleaner graphic lines and variety of details. You can build multiple caravan designs for example though they are all the same size space and same amount of occupants. There are 50 different 3D objects to place on a nicely detailed map which leads to lots of variety. There are several different designs for the individual holiday goers as well keeping things interesting. Sound wise there is a general calming music that plays during the building which is nice since it doesn’t create tension in mission that are fairly long. The voice acting for the intro scenes to the missions is done well, though done in German which is a language I never studied. English is luckily available on the graphic page description so you know exactly what your mission is.

Gameplay:

You are given a map, a certain amount of start up funds and mission criteria and left to do what you think you need to to beat the mission. A great deal of creativity has to go into completing each mission of the simulation, sometimes trying to figure out such questions that every parent asks: how do I get a 70% satisfaction approval from teenagers? The mission criteria will often involve multiple elements like certain things build, approval levels, money earned, sometimes multiples of each. Quite often you will have a carefully mapped out plan of building then find yourself adding something willy nilly simply to try to complete a part of the mission. I have had beautiful campgrounds turned into a weird menagerie of items trying to get that last dollar or last bit of satisfaction.

The gameplay is remarkably addictive consider the subject matter. I know plenty of people who don’t like camping and would probably scoff at the idea of liking a sim game based on building a campground but if any of them are true sim or strategy fans they will find themselves sucked in trying to balance the right number of gardeners and wages to pay them with the amount of trash cans that need emptying and flower pots that need watering. This game actually should be called Resort Manager because you are actually trying to build a resort complete with disco, barbeque roundups and swimming and boating activities while deciding how many concessions to have, toilers, showers, it encompasses much more than some simple camp sites. The campsite layouts also follow community designs you might find in most city sims so if you just try to make some winding road to place your campsites on you will soon find yourself stuck for space just as you have to leave space around properties for lamp posts, trash receptacles and water taps.

There is also free play in case you just want to test your building designs without the concerns of completing mission objectives which can be really fun sometimes, just building what you can, creating the best place you can.

Last Call:

This game is surprisingly addictive and the name doesn’t do justice to the depth of play and necessity of creative strategic thinking. You aren’t just managing a campground you are building a camping resort using all your wits to complete missions which can have extremely difficult objectives. I recommend it for any one who considers themselves a sim or strategy fan, regardless of what subject matter they usually prefer. This game is just a solid example of the genre.

Trailer:

Gallery:

Ravaged – Preview (Steam/PC)

2012/10/12

Ripper71

News, Previews

I wouldn’t be surprised if Ravaged hadn’t showed up on some of your radars, but the gaming hardcore probably know it from it’s early days on Kickstarter where the gaming community reached out and TRIPLED the target donation amount. Early days might be simplifying it since the team that put it together have been working on it for three years, the kind of work that involves a day job, coming home and walking the dog, grabbing a bite to eat then working on the game until exhaustion kicks in and you pass out. New day, restart rotation. It was a game of love and already had some good signs of this when they reached out on Kickstarter. I can’t afford to invest in all the great ideas on Kickstarter so I just watched this game and saw those in the community that had the money invested. Money isn’t so much needed to create a project, it is needed to bring that project to the consumer and put a stable support system in.

So then I saw an advertisement here and there in the gaming magazines showing a rough and ragged bald fellow from behind looking across a wasteland with the word “Ravaged” in the upper corner. A nice looking ad but you figured not a gameplay shot, which it isn’t but almost could have been. So knowing my love/addiction to first person shooters when the opportunity to preview the game and chat a bit with the team came along my editor was right to figure he wouldn’t have to ask me twice. The moment I got the invite the game started downloading and the moment it was ready I was in play, and this is what I found.

Storyline:

Damn you solar flares! There you go creating an apocalypse, we appreciate the lack of need for a radiation suit but otherwise talk about the Big Suck! Ah well, some of us have watched the Mad Max, Planet Of the Apes, and Riddick movies enough to understand it is time to start hording resources, making lots of weapons and customized vehicles, and fighting over patches of dirt in the shadow of the destroyed Statue Of Liberty. In this case the Scavengers are a bunch of savages intent on ruling the wastelands and the Resistance is trying to maintain some order in this shattered world. In the end though this is really just a background storyline, there is a red team and a blue team and they each have their own special weapons and fight, fight and when that gets dull, fight a different way.

Graphics:

The graphics and detail are really nice, too nice maybe for some systems. They have actually been working on it the last few days to make the system requirements less graphic intensive so that more people can play and have done that without losing much in the way of detail or gameplay. If you look at the pics in this article they are not just beauty shots and cutscreens (which there aren’t) they are real representations of a third person front view of someone’s character. The vehicles all have their own feel, some more beat up than others and metal fatigue, patchwork and customization are all visually evident on the entirety of the vehicles and weapons. In other words things looks beat up and post-apocalyptic in a nicely detailed manner.

Gameplay:

A game can look as pretty as it likes but if the gameplay sucks it isn’t going to get played. In this case it even goes a step further, people invested their money in the project through Kickstarter so this game needs to be worth it to the player and investor alike. Luckily even at the beta stages this game is delivering. There is no leveling or leveling incentive, there are leaderboards and achievements for people who need that kind of incentive (ok I love achievements and sometimes I play a game a certain way to get them myself), but weapons are loaded out by class and can be picked up off the field.

The vehicles are purposely difficult to learn how to drive, especially aerial vehicles which is on purpose, it makes it so that FPS or TPS crazed players can’t come in and be instant masters of the field (average life expectancy on a noob copter pilot is measured in seconds) but because everyone comes in with a preload of weapons even a noob has a chance of scoring a kill. It is a really nice balance between difficult to master vehicles and everyone being able to have the same access to weapons that makes it so that you will see plenty of players on foot taking on vehicles and winning. You also learn which maps you can negotiate best on foot, with certain vehicles and which weapons will serve you best.

Maps are a fairly familiar format to players of FPS. There are two activities and two ways of winning. First the maps all have flags and resources, captured flags becomes spawn points and give points, resources can be captured from a neutral location or an enemy base, depending on the map. In the case of resources at bases you have to defend yours while trying to capture theirs. The team that has the most points when time runs out or gets 8 resources claimed first is the winner. So you can be blasting the heck out of the enemy and wind up VIP but you had better be paying attention to the supplies getting captured to or you can lose. I have been on some of the beta servers where the enemy has three players to my one but I know the map better and I am hustling to capture their resources while defending my own and won even with them capturing and guarding the flags.

I think there are plenty of times that the players are in it more for the fun fray rather than the win. That is one of the nice aspects of this gameplay, you can just jump into a game after a long day at work and just have some ass kicking fun. It is made so that you don’t have to take the game too seriously, you don’t have to worry about leveling so you can unlock certain gear. This is a point the developers wanted to strongly make. This game isn’t taking itself too seriously, heck today in a beta match I got killed by a harpoon. A harpoon! The person followed it up with a taunt, which are fun and while the statements are random the gesture is not…

And in a way that is kind of the point of the gameplay, it is just to have a bloody blasting good time. There is no single player campaign to drag their resources away from the multiplayer fights development as well as the fact people almost always have complaints about the single player games such as too short, not enough storyline, all of which get tossed out the window when the game is just multiplayer. Developing a good AI can also slow down the development process greatly and they wanted to make sure they made good on their Kickstarter promise of a good game by a certain time. This is an Indie team that is trying to put out a multiplayer game that is both fun and easy to jump in and play by the most of it’s gaming base (and investors) that it can.

First Round:

This game is still in beta and can go through some more changes and refinements by the time it releases in a week. That being said it is a fun game that as great to look at as it is to play. It is a mulitplayer post apocalyptic vehicular FPS as it claimed it would be on Kickstarter when it earned it’s funding and the attention of the gaming community, but it plays well with the big boys which shows a lot of heart put into the little shooter that could. It has all the play elements a player could ask for with 2 ways to win, 8 locations, 10 characters, 10 vehicles and 28 different weapons and up to 64 players in a match. I look forward to seeing how the game fairs after it releases and hope to see map packs and possibly expansions in the future to keep the game fresh, they already have the next vehicle planned.

In the meantime you can expect to see me plenty of times with the beta players.

Trailer:

Gallery:

Human Roast House Review

2012/10/11

Jerry Paxton

Halloween, News, Reviews

The city of Riverside had been without a good haunted house since the “Chambers of the Mausoleum” left a few years back. Now, Downtown Riverside once again rings with the joyful sound of screaming thanks to Joshua Roa-St. Pierre’s “Human Roast House”. In its second year-running, the story of this haunted house’s creation seems like some sort of dream come true for fans of Halloween events. Joshua had been creating haunted houses at his family’s home since he was 11 years old. Now 18, the city of Riverside Arts Council noticed how popular his “home haunt” had become and decided to fund him professionally – hence, the Human Roast House was born.

The front-facing facade of the Human Roast House resembles an old, rundown house. You see, the Human Roast House takes you on a journey through the home of Austin Reed Trebbe, a serial killer… Before entering the home of this deranged individual, you get a short briefing/setup from the caretaker of the grounds. From there, you are off to explore the house and the inhabitants within. Perhaps you will even come face to face with Austin himself?

Throughout the experience, my fellow reporter and I were very pleased with how the maze actors “attacked” us with intensity and never broke character. The cast of the Human Roast House is made up of 25 to 35 volunteers who you can tell really love what they are doing. There was also a lot of variety to the types of characters we got scared by throughout the experience. We were never really sure what to expect in the next room.

Overall, the Human Roast House was a fun, scary experience with plenty of jumps to go around – all for a very reasonable ticket price of $10 dollars each. The Human Roast House is located on the corner of University Ave and Main St in Downtown Riverside. You can find more information on dates and hours as well as the maze’s backstory at its official website.

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Optoma ML300 w/ WiFi Dongle Review

2012/10/11

Jerry Paxton

News, Reviews

Recently, Optoma lent us one of their ML300 projectors and Wi-Fi dongle for review. The ML300 is one of the most portable projectors I have ever seen, weighing in at about a pound and a half and being about the size of a large book. It came with a variety of cables as well as an AC adapter (unfortunately, it is not battery-powered) and awesome carrying case. For its size, the projector is equipped with a large number of input ports, including mini-HDMI, USB, VGA, Composite, microUSB, and microSD slot. It also has a 2 Watt speaker built into the unit as well as 3.5mm audio output port if you want to connect it to some more powerful speakers.

One of the most interesting features of the ML300 projector is that it will automatically detect what angle it is sitting at and adjust the keystone correction accordingly. This worked very well, albeit with a slight delay in detection before adjusting the image. Also, the unit features 300 lumens of brightness and you can easily get up to about a 120 inch video size going in a semi dark room without issue. Technically, the unit is rated at displaying up to a 160 inch video size. However, when trying this size we noted some loss of image quality. For most practical screen sizes, however, it should not be an issue and performs at least as well as any other projector of this category (It’s brighter than most, actually). The internal, 2 Watt speaker worked fine for a small area but I would definitely recommend using an external speaker set if you are in a medium to large size room or office – for dorm or small room environments, the internal speaker should be fine. The onscreen menu system is a bit on the clunky side. Instead of using arrows to navigate a cursor from option to option, the menu system uses more of an game console control scheme with symbols. It works, but could be cleaned up a lot. The ML300 did include a small remote control to help navigate the menus, so that should help those making presentations or just not wanting to get up from the couch.

The biggest detractors that I can see in purchasing the Optoma ML300 are its heat issues and lack of battery. Even though it is equipped with a fan-based cooling system, the ML300 projector gets very hot – too hot to touch the bottom of the unit, in fact, after being in operation for just a few minutes. My advice is to let it cool down for a bit after using so that you can handle it without burning your fingers. The second issue is that it runs only on AC power. It would have expanded its use as as portable projector (especially given its weight) to at least offer a rechargeable battery for the unit.

If you are looking to stream presentations on the go, I would recommend picking up the optional USB Wi-Fi dongle for the ML300. It creates a wireless hot spot that your PC or laptop can connect to and stream video to. We did notice some lag in the video from our laptop, however, so take note before you assume you will be streaming high definition film to your projector.

Overall, the Optoma Ml300 projector features some great functionality for less than $500 dollars. It would be perfect for the business person on-the-go, students looking to outfit their dorm with a projector system, or even basic home theater use. Optoma also offers a slightly larger and brighter model (at the expense of portability) called the ML500 if you need such features.

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Pros

Very portable
Auto keystone correction
Decent image quality
Brighter than many other mobile LED projectors
Great carrying case

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Cons

Clunky menu system
Generates a lot of heat
Some loss of image clarity at full rated size

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Optoma ML300 Specifications

Display Technology	DLP®
Resolution	Native WXGA (1280 x 800)
Maximum Resolution	WXGA (1280 x 800) through VGA; HD (1080p) through HDMI
Brightness	300 ANSI Lumens
Contrast Ratio	3000:1 (Full On/Full Off)
Light Source Life and Type	20,000 hours, LED
Throw Ratio	1.5:1 (Distance/Width)
Image Size (Diagonal)	17″ to 160″ (43.2 to 406cm)
Projection Distance	22″ to 203″ (56 to 516cm)
Aspect Ratio	16:10 Native; 16:9 and 4:3 compatible
Offset	100% of image is above center line of lens when upright
3D Compatibility	DLPLink 3D capable; Compatible with 3D content at XGA (1024 x 768) and 120Hz through the VGA port; Not Optoma 3D-XL compatible
Keystone Correction	Auto Vertical Keystone with manual override +/-40 deg
Displayable Colors	100% NTSC Color Gamut
Audio	2-Watt Speaker
Computer Compatibility	WXGA, XGA, SVGA, VGA, VESA, PC and Macintosh Compatible
Video Input Compatibility	HDTV (720p, 1080i/p), EDTV (480p), SDTV (480i), NTSC, PAL
Memory	2GB Internal; microSD slot supports up to 32GB SDHC
Video File Compatibility	H.264 (AVI, MOV, MP4, 3GP), MPEG4 (AVI), Xvid (AVI), MJPEG (AVI)
Office Viewer Compatibility	Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, Excel, .txt, Adobe pdf
Image File Compatibility	JPEG, BMP
Audio File Compatibility	AAC, MP3, PCM, ADPCM, WMA
WiFi	Compatible with Optoma USB Wireless Dongle
User Controls	Direct Access On-Screen GUI in 15 Languages
Remote Control	Fully Featured IR Remote
Projection Method	Front, Rear, Upright, Inverted
I/O Connectors	Mini HDMI, microSD Slot, VGA-In, 2.5mm AV Input (Composite Video and Stereo Audio-In), Micro USB, USB, 3.5mm Audio-Out, DC Input
Weight	1.4 lbs (635g)
Dimensions (W x H x D)	7.2″ x 1.8″ x 4.4″ (184 x 45.0 x 112mm)
Operating Temperature	41° to 95°F (5° to 35°C) at sea level and 80% max humidity
Power Supply	Input: 100-240V ~ 50-60Hz, 2.0A Output: 19V ~ DC, 4.74A
Power Consumption	90W max (Bright mode with Multimedia function)
Noise Level	36 dB
Standard Accessories	Remote Control, Battery for Remote, VGA Cable, Type A to micro USB Cable, AV Cable (RCA to 2.5mm), Power Adapter, Carrying Case, Quick Start Card, Warranty Card
Optional Accessories	iPad®/iPod®/iPhone® Apple Connection Kit, mini HDMI Cable Kit, Mini HDMI to Micro HDMI Cable, VGA to Component Cable, USB Wireless Dongle, VGA Wireless Dongle, 40″ and 50″ Matte White Mini Pull-Up Screens
Warranty	1-Year Limited Parts and Labor

New Medal of Honor Warfighter Multiplayer Screenshots

2012/10/11

Jerry Paxton

News

Electronic Arts has released some new multiplayer screenshots for its upcoming Medal of Honor Warfighter – enjoy!

Screens

Chris Roberts Return Game “Star Citizen” Announced

2012/10/10

Jerry Paxton

News

AUSTIN, Texas, October 10, 2012 — Chris Roberts, who helped define the space sim genre in computer games during the 1990s with his Wing Commander® and Privateer® franchises, is back in the cockpit again with a new title he says will change the way people perceive games for the PC and will breathe new life into space combat games. The new game, Star Citizen™, was officially announced today at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) Online taking place at the Austin Convention Center. The game is being developed by Roberts’ Cloud Imperium™ Games studio, located in Los Angeles.

Roberts’ re-entry into gaming comes after he spent more than a decade as a director and producer in the Hollywood film industry. In 1990, he introduced Wing Commander to the world of PC gaming and the franchise went on to sell millions of units and spawned multiple sequels, a feature film and another highly successful game franchise, Privateer.

Star Citizen, already 12 months into production, will be launched on the PC and will include all the Chris Roberts hallmarks that fans of his games have come to expect over the years: high quality cutting-edge visuals and technology, a virtual world that is immersive and detailed, a sophisticated storyline that is wide in scope and visceral, heart-pounding space combat.

“In recent years, game designers have stopped innovating and pushing the boundaries of what you can do in this genre,” says Roberts. “I plan on bringing that kind of development mentality back into PC gaming and space sims in particular.

“There is a lot of noise out there regarding social and mobile games right now, and I think PC gamers are feeling a little left out of the mix. But the PC is still incredibly capable of presenting an experience that doesn’t take a back seat to any other platform out there, including consoles. With my game, I want PC gamers to stand up, be counted and get excited again about all the great experiences their computer can deliver.”

At GDC Online Roberts also announced a program to bring his devotees and other interested parties much closer to the development process. A crowd funding site has been posted at www.robertsspaceindustries.com to help raise the necessary funds for completing development of the project. “Our purpose today,” said Roberts, “is to allow our fans to join us in this process early. It will likely be another two years before the full product is ready for release, but early backers will be able to play a version of the game a year from now.

“We are taking this approach to fund-raising for several reasons,” said Roberts. “For one, this route takes the traditional game publisher out of the mix and enables us to take the millions of dollars normally used by publishers for a triple-A title and plow them right back into developing the game. Secondly, using our own crowd funding mechanism allows us to reach out to our international fans, who have been devoted followers of my games in the past. Thirdly, going direct gets us much closer to our fans and allows us to focus more on the community side, create more updates for our fans and directly interact with them as we are making the game.”

Star Citizen, still in early development stages, will not require a subscription, but will not be free-to-play either. Roberts says the game will be available for a one-time purchase. And while players will be able to play in the Star Citizen universe for free, there will also be virtual items available for purchase with in-game credits so players can customize their ships and other items.

The game is being developed for PC only. More information about Star Citizen can be found at www.robertsspaceindustries.com.

Screenshots/Images/Assets

Mechwarrior Online Open Beta Starts Next Week

2012/10/10

Jerry Paxton

News

MONTREAL – October 10, 2012 – Infinite Game Publishing (IGP) and Piranha Games announced today that MechWarrior Online will go Open Beta on October 16. MechWarrior Online, one of 2012’s most anticipated titles, has been lauded by fans and the games media as the return of true Mech combat. Its successful Founder’s Program will officially end at midnight on October 14. Founder’s members are able to choose tiers of membership and get a head start here: http://mwomercs.com/founders.

“We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all of the fans over the course of our closed beta period,” said Russ Bullock, president of Piranha Games. “The amazing fans and the high quality feedback given to our team have helped us craft MechWarrior Online into a true MechWarrior gameplay experience. We’re more than excited to open up the game and look forward to continuing to expand the InnerSphere with our loyal fans.”

Set in the year 3049 during the early stages of a massive interstellar war, MechWarrior Online puts you in command of the most powerful war machine to ever walk the field of battle, the mighty BattleMech™. Command your Mech and customize it to suit your battlefield role; upgrade systems, replace weapons, and tweak armor with endless options.

Get your pilot name and more information at www.mwomercs.com.

New DS3 Screenshots

2012/10/10

Jerry Paxton

News

Electronic Arts and Visceral Games have released some new screenshots from their upcoming Dead Space 3. Dead Space 3 will be available on February 5, 2013 in North America and February 8, 2013 in Europe for the PlayStation, Xbox 360 and the PC.

Screenshots

NBA 2K13 Review (Xbox 360)

2012/10/09

Jerry Paxton

News, Reviews

Recently, I got the chance to check out 2K Sports’ NBA 2K13, the latest in their long line of basketball titles. I am a late bloomer when it comes to basketball games, beginning with 2K Sports NBA 2K10. Even in such a short amount of time between then and now – there have been so many improvements to be thankful for in the genre. This newest entry from 2K Sports doesn’t disappoint but, then again, does it satisfy?

The overall gameplay experience is very similar to NBA 2k12 – with the exception of an update to the game’s control scheme. Now, the game makes heavy use of the right analog stick for dribbling, passing, making shots, etc than ever before. The result is a much more fluid gameplay experience, with gestures being the order of the day to spin, shoot, etc. While hardcore gamers of the genre might find it takes some getting used to, I think they will come to love it. The overall game feels more like watching the game in person as opposed to fumbling about in a basketball simulation. Good news is that you still get some of that sim experience so don’t lose heart. As a hardcore flight simulation gamer, I know this feeling all too well…. Microsoft…Talkin’ to you….

NBA 2K13 was produced in part by rapper Jay-Z. This is mostly reflected in the soundtrack, which features hits not only from Jay-Z but also artists such as Kanye West, Daft Punk, and U2 (heck, even Coldplay gets a track). The overall soundtrack is excellent and offers up hard hitting beats to play alongside.

The “My Player” game mode is back in NBA 2K13 as “My Career” – expanding on the liked game mode with in-game currency as well as several other tweaks and polishes. For instance, post-game press conferences are back in the mode but, this time, you can talk up (or down) your General Manager. Additionally, there are now pre-game actions or rituals which will help distinguish your player even more. Not to mention that you can also purchase clothing to enter the arena in! This is the best career mode ever seen in a basketball title (again – also kind of the only one). You can even earn virtual currency for your athlete while not in-game by playing the NBA 2K: My Life app on Facebook or even the new NBA 2K13 game on iOS or the MyNBA2K app for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire tablets. 2K Games is really covering the bases as the virtual currency is that important to the game mode.

Overall, 2K Sports newest basketball title, NBA 2K13, gives just enough to be considered more than a small update of last season’s NBA 2K12. Unfortunately, die-hard sports gamers might feel slighted that there are not more new features to play around with. That being said, gamers should have a lot of fun with the updated control system as well as My Career game mode. It may feel a bit “phoned-in” in terms of updates, but that is not to say it isn’t the best basketball title on the market (it is) – however, it is also the only basketball game on the market. Where is the competition, folks?

“NBA 2K13” is rated “E” for everyone by the ESRB and is available for PlayStation 3, PC, Xbox 360, Wii and PSP.

Screenshots

Queen Mary Dark Harbor 2012 Review

2012/10/09

Jerry Paxton

Halloween, News, Reviews

Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor haunted event has returned for 2012. This year’s Dark Harbor sees one new maze featuring zombies from the deep, new main story characters, and as an optional “R.I.P.” experience for an up-charge. Last year, the Dark Harbor was taken over by an alluring demoness known as Bundarra. This year, the ghosts of the R.M.S. Queen Mary have returned to take it back. The main characters can be found in both the mazes as well as walking about. All are actors and able to interact with the crowd. They do a very good job of staying in character and thinking quickly on their feet when asked off-the-wall things by guests.

Most of the mazes at the event have not changed much since last year. However, the park has a new maze called “Deadrise” which features a burnt out ship hull and a crew of ghoulish sailors. The maze was interesting, with lots jagged metal set pieces. The ship hull is also very impressive from the maze entrance, with fire rushing up from its smokestack. The only feedback I would give its monsters is that they are a little too reliant on banging pipes against the metal objects. Upon exiting the maze, our ears were actually ringing. “The Cage” also returns much to my dismay – the maze always gives me a bad taste in my mouth as we pushed our way through other guests, all lost in which way to go. I hope that the Dark Harbor event changes out this one for next year’s event.

Thankfully, the mazes onboard the Queen Mary herself are still very effective and scary. In an interesting anecdote, we had to evacuate one of them as a fire alarm sounded. Some of the other guests thought it was just part of the experience but maze monsters and staff were very courteous and efficient at clearing everyone out. Thankfully, it turned out to be a false alarm. Overall, the shipboard mazes are still the scariest of the event. The sets are creepy as can be and the monsters are all good at staying in character. I would highly recommend that guests be sure not to miss them.

The “R.I.P.” program is an up-charge experience where guests can enjoy the R.I.P. Lounge during the night (with food and 4 drink tickets) as well as get fast-lane access to all the mazes. The lounge served us some tasty beef or chicken street tacos and the bar was adequately-stocked. I am not sure if I would recommend the $99 dollar experience unless you were planning to attend on a busier night like on a Friday or Saturday. On the night we attended – which, admittedly, was during the first weekend of their event, was very lowly-populated. Additionally, Dark Harbor still has a great bar and stage area set up and is definitely a focal point of the event. The band that played while we were in attendance were simply “rocking” and the bar area was a great place to hang out and chat with friends before entering the mazes.

Overall, the 2012 Queen Mary Dark Harbor haunted event is a fun, albeit spotty, haunted experience – especially for the 21 and over crowd looking to hang with friends, watch some live bands, drink, and go into some haunted mazes. For younger crowds or those looking for a more solid haunted event at the expense of the live music and alcohol, I would recommend they look elsewhere this year.

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