T w e n t y S i d e d

Am I the only one who misses that synth music they used in Deus Ex, Unreal, and Unreal Tournament? I remember opening up Unreal Ed and using it like a music player back in the day, having it play through all of the available tracks.

I also loved the MIDI music used in Descent. That was great stuff. I was actually really disappointed with the music in Descent 2, which replaced the beep-boop electronica with real CD tracks and a more “hardcore” musical vibe. Maybe it was the tonal shift that put me off, or maybe this is a case of me preferring chicken nuggets and cheese doodles over roast chicken and baked potato. I never claimed to have refined tastes.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Oh no! Somebody changed my internet show and now it’s different! Change it back! I fear things that are new and strange!

Once you get over the shock, please welcome Chris Franklin to the show. You might remember him as Campster, the guy who had the AUDACITY to not love Half-Life as much as we do. Josh, Rutskarn and I have been plotting our revenge for weeks. After a long discussion, we couldn’t come up with anything more unpleasant than being on the show with the rest of us. So here he is. Our plan is to subject him to Rutskarn’s puns until he agrees to wear a “Half-Life is #1 game with no flaws” foam finger on his right hand at all times.

He didn’t crack this week. In fact, he pretty much just talked about Deus Ex the whole time. During the show about Deus Ex! Can you believe it? Whatta n00b.

On a less absurdist note: If you want some bonus content today, check out his take on Duke Nukem Forever, where he argues that people hated it for all the wrong reasons. This is just the sort of meta-commentary that makes me happy.

You might notice I didn’t review DNF. I couldn’t do it. Despite all the jokes I made at the expense of the game, deep down I really wanted to like it. When the game failed, I wasn’t angry. Just disappointed. I actually quit playing when I got to the platforming section in the burger joint. I meant to go back and give it another try, but I never did. I could never stockpile enough indignation to get a good rant going, and so I let the game slip by in silence.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

This is what the show is all about: Serious, in-depth commentary. My fear is that someone will mistake our exhaustively researched review for Rutskarn and I ignoring Josh and acting like jackasses for twenty minutes.

Also: Pbbbth. Pbbbth. Pbbbth.

Having said all that: Am I the only one who wanted to punch out the dancer? Were we supposed to think he was awesome? I dunno. He’s technically got rhythm and athleticism on his side, but for whatever reason I thought “poser” every time I saw him.

He really is well-guarded. Aside from the crowd of inexplicably applauding onlookers, there are a couple of cops patrolling the area. I wanted to take him down without having to fight everyone in the Detroit subway system, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.