C.T. Phipps's Blog, page 91

Splinter Cell: Double Agent review

    I really shouldn't be doing a review of this as Double Agent is almost certainly a game way-way too old for the majority of my reviewers. It was also one of the less regarded entries into the Splinter Cell series. It's, however, slated to be one of the Xbox 360 games which Ubisoft is going to be re-release as Backwards Compatible for Xbox One. My opinion? I wish they'd re-release the PS2 HD re-release of the first three games instead. But it's still pretty enjoyable. Warmed...

Ten tips for writing a vampire novel

    I love vampires but, God almighty, it's getting hard to do anything new with them. It occurs to me the thing I'd love to do most is a vampire novel but for years I couldn't think of what I could bring to the table which wouldn't be warmed over Vampire: The Masquerade. Hell, I've even contemplated doing a Young Adult mummy novel because at least that didn't seem completely ripped off but still deal with some of the same themes.

    It then struck me what I was...

What We Do in the Shadows review

    I love vampires but, God almighty, it's getting hard to do anything new with them. It occurs to me the thing I'd love to do most is a vampire novel but I can't think of what I could bring to the table which wouldn't be warmed over Vampire: The Masquerade. Hell, I've even contemplated doing a Young Adult mummy novel because at least that didn't seem completely ripped off but still deal with some of the same themes.

    But dammit, vampires are still awesome and...

Splinter Cell (novel) review

    The Splinter Cell series by Ubisoft has about as much to do with Tom Clancy as I have to do with the proliferation of grimdark fiction. Which is to say, not much other than my name on a few works. Tom Clancy created the character of Sam Fisher as well as Third Echelon but everything after that was the work of Ubisoft's writers. Despite this, the Tom Clancy name has a good deal of clout in literary circles and they wanted to see if there would be an audience for it. There wa...

Just Cause 3 review

    Just Cause 2 was one of the most fun games I've played on the Xbox 360. It was a reign of delicious chaos, destruction, and madness across a fictional dictatorship where everyone was a complete asshat. It was basically Saints Row 2 except had the addition of a grappling hook and destructible scenery. Which, really, is just about everything you have to say in order to get C.T. Phipps to buy this game. Just Cause 3 would have to do a LOT in order to make it not the kind of ga...

The Wheel of Osheim review

     And so the adventures of Prince Jalan come to an end.

    The Red Queen's War had a big set of shoes to fill following the events of The Broken Empire Trilogy. The trilogy of Prince Jorg Ancreth's road to becoming Emperor of the Hundred Kingdoms was a dark, gritty, twisty, and thoroughly engaging set of stories which culminated in a apocalyptic finale. By contrast, The Red Queen's War was a somewhat less grandiose and more character-focused work that fol...

Esoterrorism is now available on audiobbook!

I'm pleased to announce the ESOTERRORISM audiobook, narrated by Jeffrey Kafer, is now available for purchase from Audible.com. It was the first book I ever wrote, containing everything as well as the kitchen sink I love about spy fiction, humor, and urban fantasy.

There are no good guys in the world of shadows...but maybe some bad men are better than others.

Derek Hawthorne was born to be an agent of the Red Room. Literally. Raised in a conspiracy that has protected the world from the supernat...

Zootopia review

    I've got to say, of all the fiction Disney has translated into other films (Hamlet for the Lion King, various fairy tales, and so on), I never expected them to make Eddie Murphy and Another Nick Nolte's 48 Hours into a film about talking animals. It's a movie which is insightful about prejudice, doesn't really have to say about racism, and is entirely entertaining throughout.

    Zootopia has the premise of Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) is a rabbit from the st...

Hitman (2016): Episode Three: Marrakesh review

    Hitman (2016) is my pick for the Game of the Year. This is a pretty high praise given the game has only released three out of its seven episodes. Nevertheless, each of the three settings have been impressive in terms of scale, design, and flexibility. Despite having only about an hour's worth of content each episode, the replayability means I've usually got many more hours before I finished.

    Marrakesh, more properly named, "The Gilded Cage" brings Agent 47...

Broken Angels review

    Broken Angels is the second novel of the Takeshi Kovacs series. Whereas Altered Carbon was a future noir detective story in the future, Broken Angels is a war picture. Even the decades change with Altered Carbon feeling vaguely 1940s-like, Broken Angels feels like it takes place in a pseudo-Vietnam.  I was initially disappointed to see none of the original cast was returning from the first book but Takeshi himself and that this took place no less than thirty years late...