Mourning the Loss of An Era

I wasn’t too invested at the time, as I essentially skipped the sixth generation of consoles when those were the state of the art in gaming. I did know about them, of course, and I did play on them occasionally, over at friends or perhaps borrowing a console. But when the seventh and eighth generation came around, I was intrigued, and eventually got an Xbox 360 and a PlayStation 4—to once again join the console community with my own machine. 

Now, consoles have been part of me since earlier on too, but I feel those generations are more abstract, even if one knew about the eternal battle between Sega and Nintendo. The seventh and partly eighth generation made it feel more like a real thing, as suddenly keeping the games around even when completed had value in itself. The point I want to make: from being a magical backdrop when I was a kid, to something more tangible, purchased with my own money—consoles have always been there, regardless of where I was in life. But all that is coming to an end…  

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The Alters – Are You Me? [Field Report]

This will not be a review, since I haven’t finished the game yet. Yet, I find myself compelled to talk about The Alters. I’m not going to go into too many mechanics, as I mostly want to talk about the impressive narrative structure. I’m not sure if I have actually experienced anything similar. Not in this genre at least, which is some kind of base-building/management game. 

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Urban Strife – 1.0 Release is Imminent!

After ten years of development and a few years in Early Access, it’s finally time for Urban Strife to hit the 1.0 release on the 14th. Now, while I was pretty harsh toward the game in my Early Access Impressions article, I saw great potential in the title. So it’s with some excitement I await the release tomorrow. Have things been improved?

One of the big reasons for my scathing review was the weak writing, but I might be in luck, as it seems they hired an English-speaking veteran narrative designer to go over the dialogue. Check the release video after the jump, and a quote from one of the devs I picked up on RPG Codex. It comes with curious insight about the development and somewhat somber expectations. 

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Trespasser: Jurassic Park’s Biggest Failure? – A History [Video]

Trespasser could be one of the most mythical games to me thanks to its theme (Jurassic Park), year of release (in my youth), and the general mysterious feel of the game. I’m glad the excellent YouTuber Monotonal Lizard | MNTM is here to pull back the curtains and let the sunlight in to demystify the game. However, only to a certain degree. After sitting through his six-hour mastodon project, I still feel Trespasser is surrounded by mystique, despite its clear, heavy faults. Watch the in-depth retrospective after the jump, and beyond going over gameplay and plot, it’s filled to the brim with fascinating development information too!

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My Top 10 ZOMBIE films!

Just like My Top 10 ZOMBIE games on PC, I crave something more than just mindless zombie slaughter in my movies. I need dread and some form of realism in how humanity meets this threat, so comedies are basically cut automatically. That’s not to say the films I will recommend are humorless, but humor will not be the main focus—it will be the survival in a world filled with terror and despair.

To avoid making this a George A. Romero list, I only get to pick one of his films for my top ten—even if they are all top choices. Ready your machete. We are going in!

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