Steampunk has been an in thing for geek culture for the last
decade, but many other retro futuristic sci fi subgenres are making their way
to popularity. Dieselpunk, raygun gothic and atompunk are just a few of them.
That last one can be found in its TV form throughout the web, such as the two
series I discussed last post. But
atompunk is also becoming a hit in video games.
Fortified is one
of many games in this classification. It’s set in an alternative 1950s where players
have to defend the earth from invading Martians. Players strategically build a defense
base to ward off armies of alien robots. A player chooses the role of one of four archetypal characters: “a jetpack piloting heroine, a shotgun wielding space
cowboy, a secret government agent, [or] a battle hardened Marine captain.” You can play single or as a
group of up to four players. This sci fi video game is loaded with retro future
style high-tech weapons and up-to-date special effects.
Photo Credit: Clapfoot Inc.
Released early last week, Fortified was created by the team at Clapfoot Inc. located in
Toronto, Canada. It’s available for Xbox and PC and can be purchased at its
official website. For more atompunk video gaming check out the games below, each of which can
be purchased at Amazon. Simply click on their images to find out more.
Welcome to the first post for The Super Freek! In this blog
you’ll find content about everything pop culture, particularly in nerd-dom. We’ll
discuss everything from science fiction and fantasy to computer technology. We’ll
cover entertainment media in TV, movies, comic books, video games, and even
music. As of now, a post will be published here mid-week—Wednesday or Thursday—every
other week. If enough people seem interested, I may post every once a week. To
find out more about this blog, please check out the About page. If you have any suggestions for
the blog, please feel free to post any comments in the box below. To start off,
I provided two short reviews of two internet TV sci fi series below.
These two series can be considered atompunk. For those of you who don’t know what atompunk is, it’s a
sub-genre of science fiction involving retrofutures like much steampunk does,
only instead of these futures being based on Victorian-derived steam technology
it’s based on atomic era technology and so technology of the late 1940s through
the early half of the ‘60s (though this has been debated like nearly all
history). To find out more about atompunk, check out my article at my other blog,
A Far Out Fantastic Site. You can also check out the links below:
This humourous space opera debuted only last year, but is
reminiscent of 1930s through ‘50s sci fi TV and movie serials. Yet, it uses
today’s special effects (considering it was produced on a string budget, that
is). Think Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Star Wars. Hell, there’s even an alien hang-out of a cantina scene
in the first episode. It stars Rick Corrigan, Doug Drexler, Lauren Galley, and Eric Lobo, (better
known as Mr. Lobo, horror host of TV-syndicated Cinema Insomnia). The director is Bill Hughes who also co-writes with
Heidi Hughes.
10 Ways to Defeat
Aliens
Like Matt Mercury,
this series is atompunk only the aliens come to Earth in this one instead of
Earthlings going to the aliens. Defeat Aliens,
is an alien-invasion series but with twists: children, babies to be precise,
defend the adults from the alien invaders (at least in episodes one and two
they do) and it is told mockumentary style, or, more precisely,
instructional/how-to style. Because of these comical twists, Defeat Aliens is a parody of atomic era
sci fi like Matt Mercury but even
more hilarious. Starring Karl Champley and my x-girlfriend. Okay, it doesn’t
star any x-girlfriend of mine. But the woman it does star, Dorothy Chan, looks a
lot like a gal I dated once. But I won’t go on any more about that; bad
memories. Produced by Griffith Pictures.
Next time, I’ll talk a little more on Matt Mercury and maybe a new video game premiering this month. So tune
in in one-and-a-half weeks, same Freek time . . . well, not really. But in one-and-a-half
weeks for sure.
