Reanimated – Year of the SNAAAAKKEE!

Welcome, gamers, to another edition of Reanimated, the resident place for all things evil in the world of gaming here at Ready Up!

As we say kung hei fat choy to our readers and friends celebrating the recent Chinese new year, how fitting it is to welcome the year of Snake by honouring our no legged friends, gaming style! Personally, I’m quite fond of the slithery pals, but when faced with my personal top five snake inspired monstrosities as seen below, I wouldn’t be surprised if you wanted to say hello with a shotgun!

Yawn – Resident Evil

Back in 1996, when Umbrella were terrorising the underbelly of Racoon City with its biological warfare experiments, Yawn was one of many unforeseen escapees. This formidable creature was originally created in the Arklay Laboratory but managed to break free of its captors and take refuge in the mansion above. With its mouth full of teeth and a highly toxic venom courtesy of the T-Virus, Yawn stalked its prey by roaming the attic and hidden chambers inside the mansion walls. Terrifying, but deal-able with the right weapons, and a supply of serum; blue herbs were a no go for this beastie!

Snakeoid – Zombies Ate My Neighbours

Snakes seem to be a common theme when dealing with the undead, as our next critter proves. The 1994 classic Zombies Ate My Neighbors was a tongue-in-cheek little number that paid homage to many a classic horror monster, with enemies ranging from axe wielding maniacs, to vampires, mummies and creepy-ass dolls!

The appearance of snakeoids was very much given in reference to Tremors which, for you youngsters out there, was a movie about giant underground worms that popped up to eat people and starred Kevin Bacon, that man that keeps trying to sell you an EE contract. In terms of attacking skills, the snakeoid had very little, mainly a burrow and bite move that looked more like a severe licking. Either way, it was a great addition to a sassy little number, and one that any serious gamer should hunt down and play!

Tentacle – Dead Space

The next serpent inspired nasty has definitely managed to give me a jump or two in the terrifyingly awesome Dead Space series; the one, the only (well, not quite)… Tentacle *duh, duh, duuuuuhhhhh*! It is unclear if Tentacle is a vicious blighter of its own right, or if it’s an extra appendage of another well seen necromorph; either way you will probably make sure your plasma cutter is loaded at all times when scouring the corridors of the Ishimura thanks to this guy! Tentacles, Tentacli… whatever the plural is, seemingly spring up out of nowhere to drag you into the sordid little hell holes they slither from. Despite being a one-trick pony, the idea of being pulled into its playground and having your own cavities burrowed by its clamping jaws is enough to give anyone a sleepless night; heebie jeebies a-plenty with this guy!

Riftworm – Gears of War

Without these giant critters, the world of Sera would have a much more stable terrain. In the land of Gears of War, the riftworms were responsible for creating the Hollow, the giant holes that would become filled with Locust Horde. After detonating the lightmass bomb at the end of Gears 1, we later discover this gave way to a mutated riftworm that would end up sinking cities with its insatiable munchies.

Naturally, the answer to the problem was to get eaten by said worm

Naturally, the answer to the problem was to get eaten by said worm and hack ‘n’ slash its insides! The ability to destroy communities, eight miles long and in Locust eyes has the holy poop of a god. There is a reason this guy was created by a developer called Epic!

Terramorphous the Invincible – Borderlands 2

Oh my, there are few boss battles that literally have me screaming at the TV, but this one takes the biscuit. When Gearbox created Borderlands, they offered up a whole host of nasties that would provide an ongoing challenge to its players. Upon first completion of Borderlands 2, the new mission of You. Will. Die. (Seriously.) had “come and investigate me” all over it. The result was a giant Thresher, throwing me off the edge of the cliff in one swift swoop.

Upon our next meeting, I brought along two more vault hunters, all of us levelled to the max, to seriously kick some ass and it still took three attempts over the space of two hours to finally get him down! Spawning at level 52 with the ability to regenerate his entire health if all players leave the arena (by death of course) at the same time, rotating elemental attacks and incredibly high defenses; to put it lightly – Terramorphous is an a-hole.

So there we have it – my top five serpent inspired horrors to celebrate the Year of the Snake ahead. From one game lover and her slithery sidekick, take care out there, and remember not all baddies need legs to come and hunt you down at night!