T w e n t y S i d e d
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “#9 Pwnage Personified”
#9 Pwnage Personified
Warframe is Strange Fun
My column this week serves two purposes. First, I wanted to acknowledge the bad timing of my article two weeks ago when I praised Anthem just before a flood of news stories revealed that things were worse than they seemed on the surface. Secondly, I wanted to shine a light on Warframe because it really is strange how little attention the game gets.
Every week is a new discovery of something cool that Warframe does, followed by a new annoyance that makes me ragequit. I keep getting disgusted, storming off, but then coming back because I miss the gameplay. Nothing else feels this fluid. I don’t mean “it feels good for a grindathon looter-shooter”, I mean the game feels good to play, period. While you do spend a lot of time working towards long-term goals, I hesitate to call it a “grind”. I associate grind with static gameplay against repetitive enemies in the same environments, and Warframe is the opposite of that. It’s so good I keep forgetting just how annoying it is, and so I have to come back every day so I can be reminded of why I quit yesterday.
I don’t know if that’s a criticism or an endorsement, but that’s where I’m at with this game right now.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Warframe is Strange Fun”
Andromeda Part 22: Actually Meridian
The plan is for Ryder to return to the control center from the previous mission. I realize this is a very minor pointParticularly in a story as troubled as this one. but it feels strange to come back here so soon after our last big visit. Imagine if the Enterprise crew had their meeting with V’ger, left, and then turned around and came back for a few more words. Imagine if Neo turned around and visited the Oracle a few minutes after his first visit. It’s not wrong or anything, but it seems like an odd way to pace the story. I’d never thought about it before, but it does seem like casually re-visiting the mysterious location of revelation takes some of the mystique out of it. It’s less that I’m bothered that Andromeda does this, and more curious how it made me notice that other stories don’t do this sort of thing.
At any rate, Ryder is here to release a bunch of Remnant robots. The robots will fly through the currents of the scourge, and we can follow them to Meridian. I’m not sure why small robots traveling for ten minutes would arrive at the same location as a planetoid that’s been cruising for centuries through the ever-shifting scourge, but it seems to work out.
This is where the Archon springs his trap. He begins talking to Ryder through her SAM implant. He monologues at you for a bit, saying things like, “FALL TO DARKNESS, PATHFINDER. YOU WERE ALMOST WORTHY.” (The subtitles aren’t in all caps, but the line delivery is. This guy sounds exactly like Harbinger in Mass Effect 2, including the same pitch-shifted reverb vocal FX.) Then the Archon does…
Well, it’s not clear what he does here.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Andromeda Part 22: Actually Meridian”
Diecast #248: Car Talk, No Man’s Sky, Warframe
It’s a bit of a weird one this week, I’m afraid. Paul and I both bought vehicles and the resulting conversation ate a third of the show. On the other hand, we’re giving away a free copy of a game, so maybe that makes up for all the car talk. Details at the end of the show / show notes.
Hosts: Paul, Shamus. Episode edited by Issac.
Show notes: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #248: Car Talk, No Man’s Sky, Warframe”
#8 Live Action Ramgar Pummeling
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “#8 Live Action Ramgar Pummeling”
#7 Relationship Shy
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “#7 Relationship Shy”
Spider-Man Part 9: The Web of Spider-Sneak
Spider-Man gets a tip from Yuri that the Demons are seizing a lot of the Kingpin’s holdings. Spider-Man still thinks this is a gang war problem. By this point in the story the player has run into spontaneous clusters of Demons doing various crimes around the city. They seem to be amassing weapons and money and Spidey is wondering what their next big move is.
Yuri is invaluable here. As a member of the police force she can feed Spider-Man all the exposition we need and act as a sounding board for our lead character. Without her, Spider-Man would need to convey all of his plans and fears by narrating to himself. That works fine in comics where the writer controls the flow of time and can have Spidey recap recent events in a single full-page panel, but in an open world having the player character endlessly chattering to themselves would be incredibly tedious.
Spider-Man and Yuri figure out that the Demons are likely to attack one of the Kingpin’s properties at the docks. Yuri sends officer Jefferson Davis with a warrant. This means Spider-Man and Officer Davis can conduct a proper search and gather evidence.
Before they can do the search, Spidey needs to knock out all the guards, so I guess now is a good time to talk about the…
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Spider-Man Part 9: The Web of Spider-Sneak”
From The Archives:
If Star Wars Was Made in 2006?
Imagine if the original Star Wars hadn't appeared in the 1970's, but instead was pitched to studios in 2006. How would that turn out?
Batman v. Superman Wasn't All Bad
It's not a good movie, but it was made with good intentions and if you look closely you can find a few interesting ideas.
Spoiler Warning
A video Let's Play series I collaborated on from 2009 to 2017.
The Dumbest Cutscene
This is it. This is the dumbest cutscene ever created for a AAA game. It's so bad it's simultaneously hilarious and painful. This is "The Room" of video game cutscenes.
Object-Disoriented Programming
C++ is a wonderful language for making horrible code.
Trusting the System
How do you know the rules of the game are what the game claims? More importantly, how do the DEVELOPERS know?
My Music
Do you like electronic music? Do you like free stuff? Are you okay with amateur music from someone who's learning? Yes? Because that's what this is.
The Death of Half-Life
Valve still hasn't admitted it, but the Half-Life franchise is dead. So what made these games so popular anyway?
Deus Ex and The Treachery of Labels
Deus Ex Mankind Divided was a clumsy, tone-deaf allegory that thought it was clever, and it managed to annoy people of all political stripes.
Fable II
The plot of this game isn't just dumb, it's actively hostile to the player. This game hates you and thinks you are stupid.