Death Road to Canada

By Shamus Posted Friday Aug 26, 2016

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 108 comments


Link (YouTube)

To be totally honest, I really like episodes that I’m not in. Maybe it’s because I haven’t already lived through it so everything is a surprise, or maybe the show is funnier without all my bloviating. Campster and Josh did a pretty good job of making this fun and hilarious. Also, note that Campster is the one playing this time around, and Josh is spectating for once.

Anyway. This game just went on my Steam wishlist.

 


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108 thoughts on “Death Road to Canada

  1. Trainzack says:

    Wow, another twenty minutes with. I did not expect to see this again. However, I think that we could all have predicted that it wouldn’t actually be twenty minutes long.

    On the subject of brooms, we keep ours in the same… uh, pantry? I guess you’d call it? In the kitchen that we keep the trash cans. So somewhat like a closet. We do have an actual closet for coats and vacuum cleaners.

    1. Sunshine says:

      A pantry is for storing food.

      1. Humanoid says:

        And pants.

        1. MrGuy says:

          And pantfood.

          1. Daemian Lucifer says:

            And frying pants.

            1. LCF says:

              And mutants with pants.

              1. Austin says:

                Don’t forget the pantcakes!

                1. This is almost like watching a pantfarm.

                  1. MrGuy says:

                    But not a pantomime.

                    1. Austin says:

                      Star Wars: The Pantom Menace?

                2. Daemian Lucifer says:

                  Pantcakes!Pantcakes!!PAAANTCAAAAKEEES!!!

                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30CExwoUyVQ

  2. Daemian Lucifer says:

    To be totally honest, I really like episodes that I'm not in. Maybe it's because I haven't already lived through it so everything is a surprise, or maybe the show is funnier without all my bloviating.

    Or maybe you just like being The Boss,having your minions do all the work while you reap all the rewards.That is why you enjoy your kids doing all the podcast editing,after all.

  3. Mormegil says:

    But if nobody plays cricket then who is the silly mid on? Who gets out for a duck? How will you know if the wicket is sticky?

    1. MichaelGC says:

      I’d move the silly mid on back to mid on, and then we’ve got two slips, a gully, a backward point, a deep fine leg, a third man, two saving one, one saving two, and a partridge in a pear tree.

      1. LCF says:

        I honestly cannot guess whether you are actually giving a factual description, or if that “cricket” nonsense is just a ploy to help defend Britain during WWII that’s still going on due to its efficiency.
        I’ll go with the conspiracy, just to be safe.

        1. MichaelGC says:

          WWII? We have cricket clubs that were founded before the United States of America.

          You’ll likely note that this doesn’t actually address the question. ¬_¬

          1. LCF says:

            I’ll also conclude that you are either a victim of this deception, or an accomplice. They have you now! Run! Run for your life!

            1. MichaelGC says:

              It’s too late for me!! I’ll ask for an explanation of leg before wicket as a distraction – try and save yourself!

              OK so: I can’t be out leg-before if the ball pitches outside the line, but I can be out leg-before-wicket if the ball doesn’t touch my leg but instead hits me in the head?

  4. Sunshine says:

    I can’t hear or read this title without thinking “Death Cab For Cutie”.

  5. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Chris reads out aloud that there arent any things left to loot,decides to listen to Josh and go in anyway,and Im like:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qslcnw-9KbI

  6. Daemian Lucifer says:

    @Gas in toilet question
    If thats a pun,its a really shitty one.

    1. Content Consumer says:

      Crappy joke, man.

      1. tzeneth says:

        Don’t poo poo on his fun.

    2. baseless_research says:

      These complaint threads you keep making are just a bunch of hot air man, cut the crap already

      1. Kamica says:

        I was just about to reply telling you to calm down, but then I realised what you did, and I really need to release some pressure… =P.

  7. MichaelGC says:

    Humour’s chief weapon is SURPRISE! So that’ll be it, I suspect.

    It is possible to surprise oneself, but that tends to be a split-second intra-brain thing, and is rather less likely when you’re listening to yourself make the same joke for the third or fourth time because you’re having to re-record the episode due to one or more aspects of the virtual Rube Goldberg machine chucking a wobbly.

    And I’ve not noticed a great deal of bloviation over the years! Sod all, in fact. “To speak or write verbosely or windily, perhaps in the style of Warren G. Harding.” (Sorry – little bit of politics.) If that’s what you’ve been going for, I think you might have to try a little … harding-er.

  8. Daemian Lucifer says:

    I was hoping you guys would spend half an hour creating the whole spoiler warning crew,only to die 5 minutes in.

  9. Redingold says:

    Cricket’s not that complicated.

    You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!

    1. MrGuy says:

      And none of them make it to Mornington Crescent.

      1. Leocruta says:

        Well, that’s due to an addendum to the consolidated rules compendium (12th edition) by Howard IV in 1972. Personally, I’ve always thought the 1978 Supplement’s draft rules should override the restrictions outlined in Howard’s work, theoretically allowing Mornington Crescent as a viable play without the dangers normally associated with The Lord Admiral movement first used in the famous 1956 match-up between Sir Alastair and Barrington.

        1. MrGuy says:

          I’m tired of everyone putting so much stock in the Lord Admiral gambit.

          Sure, it was a clever bit of near-game-breaking rules lawyering back in ’56, as you say. But it was a very narrow combination of some very esoteric station specific rules (including, famously, the fact that the in-station transfer at Paddington Station between the Circle Line and the Picadilly Line was temporarily closed for repairs between Nov, 1955-June, 1956).

          It’s not nearly as applicable in modern play, even before the ’78 Supplement effectively retroactively prohibited it. Overreliance on transfer station rules is an easy way to get caught out by a reverse. And almost all 2000-level and above players can spot a reverse opportunity a mile away.

    2. MichaelGC says:

      There are also lots of things that aren’t done because they’re against the rules, things that are never done but aren’t mentioned in the rules, things that are not done even though specifically allowed by the rules, and things which must always be done even though they’d never be mentioned in the rules.

    3. Syal says:

      You have two sides

      You’ve lost me.

  10. Listening to Campster treat this like a TV show episode in the making was really delightful. And it does make it FAR more amusing.

    1. Matt Downie says:

      It was cancelled early in Season 3 when the audience responded poorly to the new central character, Vernon. Some found his habit of pretending to be a doctor and then trying to rob everyone made him dislikeable. Others thought his inability to win a fight with a bee made him ridiculous.

      1. Content Consumer says:

        I’m sick of all the people putting Vernon down for failing to win a fight with a bee. Didn’t you even watch that episode? He won the fight fair and square! And didn’t even panic! Sure he got stung, but that’s what happens when you try to use a broom as a melee weapon in the cab of a car like that.
        Stop hating on Vernon just because of the bee episode. Move on, already!

        EDIT: Besides, I’ve watched that whole fight sequence multiple times through in slow motion. That is clearly a wasp, not a bee. We’re lucky he didn’t lose a hand. Wake up, sheeple!

        1. Matt Downie says:

          They should never have killed off Jennette! Finally, a strong role for a woman, and then they just have her die stupidly because the actress wanted a pay rise or whatever!

          EDIT: Also, if it was a wasp, how come it spontaneously died after stinging him?

          1. Gruhunchously says:

            They foreshadowed Jeanette’s death pretty hard though. She spent pretty much the entire half of Season 2 sick and wounded, even as she was forced to step up and take charge of the group. So it’s not like it came out of nowhere, but it still infuriates me the way they basically fridged her for the sake of Vernon’s character development. I hate Vernon so much.

            I remember a lot of fan speculation that Jeanette was going to get her health back in Season 3. They should have gone with that really. Vernon would have been SO MUCH more tolerable with her around to balance things out.

            They could have at least given her death some dignity.

            Yeah I’m mad.

        2. Daemian Lucifer says:

          Youre wrong man,it was definitely a bee.And vernon didnt win that one,because as everyone knows bees are natures kamikazee attackers.That bee died because it delivered its sting,not because of the feeble attempt to squash it.If you look carefully,you can see it still squirming and smiling in its last seconds.It fulfilled its duty,for queen and country.

        3. Syal says:

          That is clearly a wasp, not a bee.

          Except for one frame where it’s actually a boa constrictor.

          1. You people and your Vernon obsession! Cora was CLEARLY the most interesting character, with that suspiciously upbeat attitude and green hair, falling asleep on watch and letting the rest of the party get eaten by zombies!

            Something weird was going on with that guy.

            1. Gruhunchously says:

              Cora was another interesting character that they just killed off for the sake of drama. I mean, I get that with a show like this you kind of have to keep a steady bodycount so it can be ‘dark’ and ‘realistic’ and all that, but I don’t get why they couldn’t gotten rid of Memphis instead (I mean, earlier). She didn’t really have much going for her at that point.

              It was probably an audience ratings thing.

              1. Mintskittle says:

                A lot of people don’t know this, but if you listen to the commentary on the dvds, it was never about the people, but the car, and all the crazy stuff that happens around it. The writers fought hard to keep that car throughout the show. Ever wonder why after they abandon it only to find another of the exact same make and model two episodes later? It’s supposed to be the same car. The original script had them needing to scrounge parts for it after it crapped out on them from the ramp jump. Of course, after the lead writer left, the execs were quick to dump it in favor of the “Hybrid Hotness”.

              2. Matt Downie says:

                Memphis was such a Mary Sue.

          2. Content Consumer says:

            I just did some research, and it turns out the bee fight took three days to properly choreograph and film, and the bee got sick on the second day. They had to sub in a different animal on the second day, so they got a wasp look-alike. The boa constrictor is a stunt double.

      2. Gruhunchously says:

        Season 3 had a real problem with tonal consistency. I mean, on the one hand they seemed like they were setting Vernon up as a tragic anti-hero but on the other hand, the bee scene. The fricken’ bee scene. I still don’t know what they were thinking.

        1. Syal says:

          As well it got cancelled when it did. If you read the notes for Season 4, realism was very much on its way out. I don’t know what they were thinking with the anime magical girl.

          1. Dork Angel says:

            I hear there’s a fan petition to get it back and the original writer is on board. Maybe it’ll show up on Netflix.

            1. Content Consumer says:

              At the very least, maybe they’ll make a movie.

              1. MichaelGC says:

                Although I understand that the bee fight will no longer be treated as canon in the DRCCU.

  11. Droid says:

    “It’s like a roguelike.”

    Sooo, a roguelike? A roguelike-like?

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      Philistine!Dont you know that the proper term is rougelike?

      1. Droid says:

        I am not from Palestine, and I don’t like rouge at all!

        :-P

    2. Matt Downie says:

      Or at the very least, a roguelike-like-like.

      1. Warclam says:

        Those are terrible. They’ll eat your roguelike-shield.

  12. Warclam says:

    Um, Chris? What the hell is manaze?

    1. Chris says:

      I’m gonna blame my midwestern upbringing for how I pronounce mayonaise. I’ve also heard I pronounce “egg” wrong.

      1. Bubble181 says:

        It’s pronounced with a soft “g”. Like “Jigglypuff”.

        ;)

      2. MichaelGC says:

        How many ways are there to pronounce ‘egg’?!? I mean, you either say it ‘egg’ or it’s just a different bloody word!

        (Well, unless you’re from New Zealand, I guess. There they make sure not to put all their iggs in win biscuit.)

        1. Chris says:

          I swear I can’t hear a difference, but multiple people including my wife insist I pronounce it “aig” when it should be pronounced “ehg.” To me it’s just an inflection difference in how excited you are about eggs more than a pronunciation thing.

          1. MichaelGC says:

            Aha. I’m with you, I reckon, but mine was rather chalazae yolk; hope I didn’t cross vitelline! Wouldn’t be the first time – I’ve enough for an albumen. Blast! – cuticle as this might be, I really need to stop this shell game.

          2. Steve C says:

            “eggcited”

          3. MrGuy says:

            “Ah kin ate fafty aigs!”

        2. Lachlan the Mad says:

          Niw Zillinders dn’t hev iggs, they liv offa fush an chups, broo.

      3. Yep, it’s a Midwest thing, since it’s the same in Ohio. :P

      4. Content Consumer says:

        How about “Lego?”

        1. Daemian Lucifer says:

          Thats reserved for feet in asses.

    2. Cinebeast says:

      Wait, how do YOU pronounce mayonaise?

      1. TMC_Sherpa says:

        With an o probably. May-o-naze. Personally I’m in favor of Chris and his midwestern pronunciations.

  13. Droid says:

    Wow, these events border on griefing sometimes.

    1. MrGuy says:

      To me, griefing is sabotaging a player to no end other than “Ha, ha! you can’t have nice things!” It’s pointlessly aggravating someone simply because aggravating is fun.

      In a game like this, however, when you’re fighting for your survival and running hard to escape, the fact that you can randomly lose what you’ve been carefully hoarding all game isn’t griefing – it’s a mechanic, and a core part of the gameplay. You can never get complacent, because you can lose everything in a moment.

      The toe stub event is a great illustration of that to me. In most games, I’d say a random “hey, your stats just went down!” event would be unfair, and I might call it griefing if it happened in, say, Skyrim. Because it’s out of left field, and counter to the game’s power fantasy idea of becoming an unstoppable badass. But in this game, you’re not unstoppable. It’s the opposite of a power fantasy. You’re constantly struggling to stay fed, stay on the road, stay healthy enough to not die. Random unexpected loss is part of the game.

      1. Droid says:

        You’re making some good points there, you’re right. Me not being a big fan of these types of games might have to do with this “it’s not a power fantasy” part, so I might be looking at it from a wrong perspective.

  14. Kelerak says:

    I would trust Memphis with my vital organs.

  15. Ivellius says:

    I just want to say that I like the Campster playing episodes as well. I think having gameplay to distract him helps him make comments on what’s going on.

    Also, y’all aren’t the first people I’ve seen play this game, but my experience after watching people play it was also to put it on my wishlist.

  16. Somniorum says:

    Campster complains about the happy music they play when you get out of the car being dissonant – I suppose he didn’t notice, as he’s not from here, but it’s actually just the Canadian national anthem.

    1. MichaelGC says:

      O? I guess he wasn’t standing on guard.

  17. Grimwear says:

    Do zombies infinitely spawn in an area or is it possible to clear them all out and loot at will?

    1. Chris says:

      I think that mostly depends on zombie horde size? Like, it lets you know how bad the zombies will be before going into each zone, and I think if the hordes are thin and the mood is calm they will barely spawn any more zombies. That said, I’ve never tried to 100% clear a level because it’s kinda tedious to do so. When I clear rooms they do tend to stay clear, though.

      The only levels that I know for a fact constantly respawn enemies are the “you have to try to make a run for it” levels, like the sewer one we ran into.

      1. Grimwear says:

        Thank you very much for the reply. I have added this game to my wishlist!

        1. Syal says:

          I’m pretty sure they all infinitely respawn from the level exits. Low-level hordes will only spawn one or two new zombies at a time at several-second intervals.

      2. Ivellius says:

        Just adding to this, SW helped me convince me to actually buy this game, so I’ve been playing a bit. In my most recent run a valkyrie joined me a couple of days in, and her magic hammer and outstanding fitness has made clearing things much easier.

        Recently found a cabin with tons of zombies around and a bit later had a siege with a zombie horde, and in both cases I was able to more or less clear the level. I think with open levels (space around the edges of the map) you can’t completely clear forever, but in the siege that was in a house I eventually cleared everything, even with tons of zombies falling from the ceiling.

        It would’ve been much more tedious without a magic hammer, though.

        1. MichaelGC says:

          ♬ If I had a hammer, I’d hammer zombies in the cabin
          “¨I’d hammer zombies from the ceiling, all over this laaand”¨ ♫

        2. guy says:

          Did you accidentally stumble into Nethack or something?

    2. krellen says:

      You can clear a building, but more zombies will come in from outside (you can actually see them doing so).

  18. Brandon says:

    Do more of these. Seriously. I’d love to see a series of Campster-played, Josh-color-commentated runs at this game.

    1. Christopher says:

      Yeah, this was great.

      1. SyrusRayne says:

        Chris plays Dark Souls while Josh watches.

        1. Christopher says:

          I prefer Happy Campster, but I guess Miserable Campster is fine too.

          1. Austin says:

            Not a happy Campster.

    2. Echo Tango says:

      I concur! More of Campster driving in weird indie games! :)

  19. Charnel Mouse says:

    Well, where else would you find gas, but in the can?

    1. MrGuy says:

      Pro Tip for surviving any dystopian apocalypse scenario:

      Did you know most patriotic American office workers celebrate their country’s Second Amendment by keeping 2 or 3 live bullets in the drawers of their desk at work? These bullets usually are the kind that fit any common handgun you’re likely to be carrying. If you ever find yourself fighting a ruined office full of bad guys, this one weird tip could keep you alive!

      Addendum to the above pro tip: Don’t tell it to any bad guys you might know. Otherwise they’ll get the bullets first. Only tell it to good guys, or at least anti-heros. Or, y’know, player characters.

      1. Also, you’ll often find pepper and salt shakers. A faceful of pepper might not do anything to a zombie, but it’ll certainly make a human pause. And salt is a handy preservative!

        (I did, in fact, work in an office where every desk had salt and pepper shakers. No one knew where they came from, and no one was willing to use them)

        1. MrGuy says:

          One of the things I really liked about the TV Show Jericho was that early on, they discovered the real wealth of their town post-apocalypse was that it had a salt mine. Science!

  20. Ander says:

    The zombies scrambling to the dead body is an interesting recovery mechanic. While gruesome, it gives you a chance to regroup with any remaining people. Obviously it results in a lot of undead mass in one spot, but the mass seems to wait awhile before chasing you.

    1. Fists says:

      Yeah, I liked that. Better than the roguelikes where you go from cruising to total wipe in a single encounter you actually have a chance to recover.

    2. AncientSpark says:

      What’s also funny is that you can pick up the corpses of your dead teammates and chuck ’em to relocate zombies in case your teammate’s corpse is blocking the exit or something.

  21. flyguy says:

    I can honestly say i have not encountered the word “bloviating” since ~1998. It a word that’s nuanced perfectly for the internet, yet its entirely absent! I have to say I never really found this blog to be absent of substance, so ‘bloviate’ on, sir.

  22. McNutcase says:

    The engine block may not care that much, but the fuel lines, injectors/carburetor, and so on will certainly care a lot if you try to run an engine that’s tuned for gasoline on ethanol. You’ll clog the lines, it’ll run horribly lean to the point of possibly even melting the pistons, if it has a check engine light that puppy will start flashing at you, blowby will do horrible things to the oil… If you’re trying to run a gas engine on any kind of alcohol, it’s no wonder your post-apocalyptic car goes belly-up really easily. The gasoline you buy now contains up to 10% ethanol, and that’s already enough to require significant changes to engines designed back when gasoline was all dinosaur juice. The EPA has suggested allowing up to 15% in pump gas, which will rapidly kill just about anything older than the turn of the century. There’s a reason vehicles that can run on E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) are more expensive and not normal.

    Your best bet for a post-apocalypse vehicle is a really old diesel. Something old enough to be entirely mechanical, no computers needed. Why? Because those will run on ANYTHING that’s liquid and flammable. Stockpile spare fuel pumps, so you can replace them when running it on not-diesel wears them out (older diesels relied on the fuel to act as lubrication for the pumps), and just motor on. The way diesels work makes them ideal for running on whatever you can find. Gasoline engines, not so much.

  23. Amstrad says:

    I was going nuts when Campster was literally standing on a gun, complaining that he’s got all this ammo and no gun… luckily he found a gun in the next room… after the strong lady died.

    1. Matt Downie says:

      He also seemed to walk past fridges a couple of times despite being desperately short of food.

      1. MichaelGC says:

        Have we ruled out the possibility that we’re all being trolled? It is somewhat traditional…

        1. Echo Tango says:

          Probably just distracted, trying to talk about the game at the same time. :)

          1. MrGuy says:

            Use the compass!!!!

    2. Tuck says:

      He walked right past tons of weapons lying on the floor…

  24. Cybron says:

    I bought the game after watching this. Looks super fun.

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