A male born in the late 80s likes Die Hard… it certainly isn’t a bold statement, but there you go. I grew up on these films, like most people my age. John has seen me through many a festive period with the first two films, and just as many summers with a Vengeance. He’s killed terrorists over and over again in his grimy colour changing vest on screen, but a little less so in the virtual... well, less so in terms of my engagement, for there are actually about nine Die Hard games. Of the selection, I’ve only played a few, these being the Die Hard: Trilogy on PS1, a little bit of Vendetta on GameCube, and this one, Nakatomi Plaza. The former of these was a mainstay of my gaming for a long while, the three game modes in that title were a source of endless fun, but the other two, well, they didn’t catch my imagination quite so much. I wanted to give these other games another look through, specifically the games based on the first film.

I was just in my early teens when this game was released, and I probably picked it up a year or so later in a second hand heap. I recall after installing it I found the experience of playing to be quite odd, and it, as so many games I’ve sampled in the past have, ended up permanently on the shelf… well, at least until now. After a recent rewatch of the films, I was itching for a bit of anti-terrorist fun, and as I failed to give this one a proper go when I first got it, I thought it was only fair to play it through to its conclusion, whether or not it it was worth it.

The game starts out pretty much scene for scene as the film, with some cuts here and there for brevity - no fists with toes, no argument with Holly… Ellis still snorts some coke, so it’s not all different, but it’s like watching an alternate reality version. After the bullets start flying at the party, you take control to John for a second in order to grab his sidearm and to escape into the staircase - from here the alterations begin to stack up quick. This is understandable in a gameplay sense, as mirroring the film exactly would result in a pretty boring experience, so dragging out the action sequences and adding a bunch of new ones is sort of a requirement, but it isn’t the new things that the developers added that I have any particular problem with. What’s irksome are the countless strange omissions and unnecessary changes, and these are mostly with the dialogue. I will preface this complaint by saying that if you haven’t watched the film a silly amount over the years, you’d likely not notice this, but I imagine most people who play it will be playing because of a fondness for the series, and are likely to notice. Often times it’s swearing that has been removed, but not always, and getting rid of the motherfucker after the yippee ki yay, for example, seems counter to the idea of creating a game from the movie - why de-motherfucker one of the best known catchphrases of our beloved protagonist? It’s anyone’s guess, but it was probably to do with the age rating.

Anyway, as I have said, the game pads out the action quite considerably compared with what happens in the film, adding a multitude of additional levels, such as ferrying an architect around his burning office in order to rescue him, trudging through the sewer system beneath the tower while avoiding friendly fire from the L.A.P.D swat teams, defusing bombs, and escorting Argyle around the carpark… there is a lot of extra content crowbarred into the game, some of which is mostly tangentially related to events in the film, although wildly extrapolated, and some stuff is just thrown in because it’s a first person shooter. While the majority of the game is off the rails, so to speak, the parts that are faithful to the film are really immersive, and some aspects are so meticulously detailed and screen accurate that it boggles the mind when some things which should have been easy to get right are so wrong.

You never quite know what you’re in for with licenced titles, and this one… well, it’s a mixed bag. It’s simultaneously extremely faithful to the source material (well, the film, I’ve yet to read the book), while at the same time sort of shitting on it a bit. The most egregious of these failures is how it represents the characters, being almost laughable (and perhaps insulting, at least to the original cast). Of the cast of characters, barely a handful resemble their onscreen counterparts, and even then you sort of have to blur your eyes. Sergeant Al Powell, voiced by Reginald VelJohnson, who played the character in the first two films, is at least recognisable, but he’s probably the highlight. Tony is wearing similar looking clothes to his film counterpart, and his brother Karl looks fairly good too. Takagi looks ok-ish, but Argyle, Holly, and even Hans are way off. From there, it’s a sharp decline with barely any of the rest resembling the actors who portrayed them in the film, with characters like Ellis, Theo, Chief Robinson, the FBI agents, and the rest of the terrorists looking completely unrecognisable, with even the most basic features such as skin and hair colour being wrong. This does a lot to take you out of the experience, but at least the voice of John, who seems to be voiced by both Michael Blanchard and Dave Wittenberg (according to online sources) isn’t too bad, which is good as you’ll hear him saying things like “It’s locked...” about ten-thousand times throughout the game as you try every door in your mission to save the day.

What the game seems to get right most are the architectural details, the layout of the office spaces and the maintenance areas. Some of these feel like you’re almost walking onto the set, and are a joy to explore as a fan of the film, and it makes you wonder if that perhaps there was a really great virtual experience to be had here, or if that of the team responsible, maybe only the level designers had any real love for the film. And even though the limitations in technology of the time clearly had a restraining effect of some aspects of the game, what was created in terms of the explorable areas of the Nakatomi building are pretty impressive, with even some inaccessible parts rendered. One such example is the kiosk in the foyer from which Uli steals a Crunch bar during the S.W.A.T assault scene in the film. You can’t get to it as the security gate is down, but you can just about see it in the distance.

The gameplay itself sits somewhere between the character representation and the level design. To put it simply, it’s pretty mediocre, but it’s fun enough. There are some nuances in the health system, with stamina, health, and mental stability being separated out into three bars, but this is a bit of a miss, and is barely used to its fullest potential. The zippo lighter and John’s police badge are used - although not extensively. The lighter is the most useful item other than the various guns you’ll acquire though, being used in the ventilation ducts and in some dark levels to light your way. The badge is barely used, but it is a nice touch, and makes sense when dealing with hostages or other police officers. The gunplay is as basic as it gets, with a pretty small armoury - pistol, sub machine gun, two assault rifles (one with a scope), and a machine gun, although there is no realism in terms of bullet falloff, sway, recoil, or anything else you’d associate with a competent shooter. There are also flash grenades, but they are barely useable, and there are also wire cutters, which are just there for defusing the bombs and the odd occasion where some machinery needs deactivating.

Overall, the game is greater than the sum of its parts, but just barely. For a fan of the series, I think it’s a worthwhile play, even if the differences are annoying. Exploring some of the levels is a joy, and although the game is pretty basic, it’s still fun enough to muddle on through to completion, just about. If you do play it, my advice is to set your expectations low, and think of the experience as a chance to investigate a gaming curiosity. Maybe pop the film on the the background to take the edge off.

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon supporter(s) this month:

007: Tomorrow Never Dies (PS1 1999):

After the brilliance of GoldenEye, all Bond games pail, and to be fair, this one is no exception. But, I was cursed to play it as a child, and as such, this wonky mess gets the nostalgia treatment…

Beach Invasion 1915-Gallipoli (Demo: PC 2025):

Very limited in scope, but this military sim style game does what it says on the tin, and does it well. Good visuals, and good weapon mechanics.

Bright Memory: Infinite (PC 2019):

A short but sweet shooter with incredible visuals and robust mechanics. Some questionable decisions included, but for a one man team, this is certainly praiseworthy, and certainly worth playing!

Brotato (PC 2022):

Brilliantly simple, addictive, and with loads to unlock. The roguelike loop keeps me coming back to this one for little bursts of potato themed fun.

Cairn (Demo: PC 2025):

A game about climbing. Might not sound like much, but this game is a bit of a gem.

Darkenstein 3D (PC 2025):

Based on one of the true OG games, this time with better visuals, and more gore, but better than that, it’s FREE, and brilliant fun.

Deus Ex (PC 2000):

A bit of PC gaming royalty this one. I played it back in the day, but never to its fullest - unlike the 2011 release, in which I clocked an ungodly number of hours. This might get the QUEST LOG treatment at some point, but for now I’m just plugging away at it again in the background.

Devastation (PC 2003):

I never got beyond the first level of this when I first got my hands on this game, having found it on the shelf of a second hand shop. Ever since then I’ve occasionally thought about it and wondered what the rest of the game was like. It’s dated, of course, but fun, with some unique features for the time.

Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza (PC 2002):

This barely resembles Die Hard is any way shape or form… well, it’s set in Nakatomi Tower, but the cast of characters and storyline might as well be from an entirely different film. Having said that, there is some fun to be had.

E.Y.E Divine Cybermancy (PC 2011):

This game put me off multiple times, it’s weird and almost incomprehensible, but I was determined to finish it. I’m not sure I understand it even after completing it… There are so many things wrong with this game, but the few things that it does right are just enough o make it worthwhile. A noteworthy game…

Fable (PC 2004):

A true classic - famously over promised by Molyneux, but that never bothered me at the time, and still doesn’t dampen the experience. A storybook adventure you can step into - full of British charm and humour, and it still holds up today, especially with the Anniversary edition which was released in 2014. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve played though this one. No post on it yet, but maybe one day…

Fumes (Demo: PC 2025):

A Mad Max inspired open world vehicular combat game - great retro visuals with responsive controls and crunchy combat. The demo offered so much, and I am looking forward to trying the full game at some point.

G-REBELS (Demo: PC 2025):

A redo of the old G-Police games. Lots of potential here, but there is still a way to go content wise.

GoldenEye 007 (XBLA 2010):

A unarguable classic. In 2010 the XBLA version was due to come out, but was later released online by some generous person. This version plays just the same as the old, but with better visuals and smoother gameplay. A huge recommendation for fans of the game. Seek out Xenia, the 360 emulator and grab yourself a copy.

Half Sword (Demo: PC 2025):

Some good simple and bloody fun. Chopping up your competitors with a raft of period appropriate weapons is a joy.

Herdling (Demo: PC 2025):

A wonderfully curious game this one, full of mystery and whimsy. The mechanics are simple, and the world is beautiful, and from what I played of the demo, I loved. One to keep an eye on!

House of the Dying Sun (PC 2016):

A beautiful space combat simulation game with a real time strategy element. Short and sweet, with a little bit of replayability. A post on this one is done and dusted, keep an eye out for it in the future

Inertial Drift (PC 2020):

A unique take on arcade racing with a fun drifting mechanic. Lovely visuals and fun fast paced action!

It Comes In Waves (PC 2023):

This little gem is rough, but purposefully. It evokes the likes of Dune, Star Wars, and Conan, all while leading the player through a sparse and dark world.

Jackal (PC: Demo 2025):

Top down chaotic and bloody violent fun. Similar to the likes of Hotline Miami, but with more Hunter S. Thompson. The demo gives a little slice of the full game, and it looks and plays very well. Give it a go!

Kingdom Two Crowns (PC 2018):

I thoroughly enjoyed playing through Kingdom (Classic) - you can read more about that here. This release retains all the charm of the original, but with more features. If you liked the other titles, you’ll like this one. Not sure if I’ll write about it, as its so similar to the first…

Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter (PC 2003):

Halo’s useless brother. Although it does have some impressive features and some interesting levels and enemies. Overall, it’s a bit on the naff side. Expect a post on this one at some point.

Machine Mind (Demo: PC 2025):

A refreshing twist on the RTS genre with a lot of potential. One I’m looking to check out the full release of at some point.

MediEvil: Resurrection (PSP 2005):

The original PS1 version, and its sequel were very influential in my gaming education in the late 90s. One of the earlier games I got my hands on, and an absolute joy. Filled with British sensibilities and humour, this game is a true gem.

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction (Xbox 2005):

This game kept me entertained for countless hours when it first came out, and was truly impressive in scope. Seems a bit quint by todays standards, but retains a fun value that more modern games would be envious of. Expect a post about this one soon!

OpenFront (PC 2025):

A strategy game with no depth and no visuals, but somehow possesses a fun factor that keeps you hooked. This browser game has you click your way to world domination against the computer or other players. Good fun, and FREE!

PIGFACE (Demo: PC 2025):

Do you like games that immerse you in filth and grime? Do you like to be reminded of 90s and 2000s PC FPS games? This one might be for you, if you answered yet to both of those questions. One I certainly want to try the full release of.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC 2001):

An absolute classic piece of first person shooter action. Tackling the undead and the Third Reich with deadly force is a joy. It has some issues when compared to more moden titles, but for the time, this was brilliant! A post on this one is done and dusted, keep an eye out for it in the future

Ridge Racer Type 4 (PS1 1999-UK):

An absolute classic PlayStation racer. This one kept me entertained for countless hours as a child, and was an absolute joy to return to. A post on this one is done and dusted, keep an eye out for it in the future.

Road to Vostok (Demo: PC - 2025):

Similar to the likes of Escape From Tarkov, or DayZ, this game puts you in the shoes of a poor sod who has naff all to his name in a very hostile world. Looting the abandoned landscape and avoiding or killing any survivors you find, this one does what it says on the tin, and pretty damn well. Looks good, plays great. Shows real promise for a demo!

Robocop: Rouge City (PC - 2023)

I loved the demo for this one, and finally picked up the full release. Very true to the movies, and a great time - albeit a little sparse feature wise.

Rollerdrome (PC 2022-UK):

A blend of Tony Hawk’s, Jet Set Radio, and Cell Damage. Good quick fun. Easy to get into but tricky to maser, with lots of challenges to boot (or to skate).

Run TavenQuest (Demo: PC 2025):

A modern take on the classic choose your own adventure game, pitting you against the idiotic player as you take on the role of the dungeon master. Great fun, and one I am looking forward to getting into when I pick up the full game.

Star Overdrive (Demo: PC 2025):

Fun, colourful, quick, and packed with things to do and collect. One to check out for the full release.

Star Trek: Elite Force II (PC 2003):

One I often return to for a a bit of phaser action. A little aged, but still incredibly fun. One of the best Star Trek games out there, as far as I’m concerned, but then I do love me a bit of Quake Engine first person early 2000s fun.

Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown (Demo: PC 2025):

A bit of a fresh take on the old Voyager series, and, at least judging by the demo, a very compelling one. One to revisit when the full release comes out.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (Remaster: PC 2024):

This sat amongst the many Star Wars titles in my GameCube collection, and it was one I was fond of, despite it being a bit ropey in places. A fun insight into the events leading up to the creation of the clone army, and provides some insight into Jango Fett’s past. Might write about this at some point.

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor (PC 2023):

I was hesitant on grabbing this one for the performance issues, but when it came on sale, I grabbed it regardless. It’s been patched a bit since launch and runs incredibly well. A fantastic follow-up to Fallen Order, which does just about everything better.

Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic 2 (PC 2004):

I’ve lost count the number of times I’ve played through this game - this time I went heavy on the mods, restoring as much of the cut content as I could, as well as adding some quality of life bits and bobs. Always a great time.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (PC 2008):

I fancied a power trip, and had to cheat to get it in revisiting this game. Still good, although it’s beginning to show its age a little.

The Mummy (PS1 2001):

A wonky and basic interpretation of the film of the same name. I never played this when it came out, despite loving the film. Trying it the stark light of 2025 highlights everything wrong with it, but it does have some charm. Will probably write about this one at some point.

Tiny Book Shop (Demo & Full Release: PC 2025):

A real treat this one, and although the demo was incredibly brief, it conveyed its charms perfectly, and I now desperately want to open a bookshop… I ended up picking up the full game, and more is better.

Town To City (Demo: PC 2025):

To say city sims are abundant would be an understatement, and amongst these, the cosy leaning ones are ten a penny, so finding one with as much charm as Town to City was a nice surprise. Very laid back with enjoyable mechanics and aesthetics.

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (Remaster: PC 2015):

A classic first person shooter. Not many games make good use of dinosaurs, so it’s a bit of a novelty in that respect. The remaster makes playing this game today a nice smooth experience. Maybe expect a post about this some time soon…

Wheel World (Demo & Full Release: PC 2025):

A lovely racing game focusing on the joy of cycling, with a whimsical world and beautiful visuals. A real gem.

World’s Scariest Police Chases (PS1 2001):

Fun police chase action - that’s pretty much it. I enjoyed this game as a child, and in revisiting it, I found that it was still just as fun (although somewhat limited in many way). Short and sweet, for the most part.

I think that’s mostly it. There are probably a few others that have fallen through the cracks, and a couple of others I’ve picked but haven’t played enough to warrant mentioning. It’s been a well packed year and I seem to have managed to cut out a good chunk of time to devote to games. But now, it’s time to pick what I’ve enjoyed most this year…

AND THE GAME OF THE YEAR IS…?

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor… I played the first entry into the new Jedi series pretty soon after it was released and very much enjoyed it. A new Star Wars game that I gelled with was great, and although I much prefer the Legends era stories, there was a lot to enjoy.

Skip forward a few years, and its sequel, Jedi Survivor comes out. There was a lot of noise about the state of the game on launch, mostly about how poorly it ran, and for this reason I avoided it for a while, hoping that when I did finally pick it up, it would be fixed. Delaying things worked out quite well, as I managed to pick it up heavily discounted, and I must say, for the price I got it (about £8), it’s almost criminal.

There is so much game to play in this one, and while I haven’t wrung every drop from this one, I’ve finished the main story and enjoyed a good deal of the side content, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every second. Every aspect of the game is better than before, and there are so many more mechanic and features that add much more depth to the game. It looks fantastic, plays incredibly smoothly, and, at least in my experience, runs perfectly well.

What with all the goings on over at EA these days, it’s hard to know whether the third entry will be on par with this one gameplay wise, but taken as a stand alone experience, I heartily recommend it.

There we go, another year of games done… let me know what you’ve been playing these past twelve months, and if you have any recommendations for what I should play next year. And if you’d like to see what last year consisted of, click the link below:

And as always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so over on Patreon, or by subscribing and sharing!

Leave a comment

Share

Support TYPEDBYTOM!

Many games feel the same, like you’re fulfilling the same role, just in another reality, and as such, many titles scratch the same itch, so it’s a welcome breath of fresh air when a game scratches an itch you didn’t know you had, by basing itself around something that is usually overlooked or represented differently. Cairn (developed and published by The Game Bakers) is one of these games, and while it is broadly about the experience of exploration, and involves a lot of things other survival games do, it’s mechanically so focused on the movement of your character and the act of climbing that it feels like a wholly new experience.

Navigating vertically in most games involves various jumping mechanics, jetpacks, ledge grabbing, zip wires, parkour, etcetera… but rarely is the act itself scrutinised, and within Cairn, you are tasked with the management of all four of your characters limbs in order to successfully navigate the rocks that block your path.

Starting out in a rock-climbing centre, you learn the basics, how to move each foot and hand into position, what surfaces make for good footholds, how far you can push your character, and how to anchor safety lines as your progress (aided as you are by a very cute little robotic climbing companion. Initially, it seems like quite a lot to wrap your head around, but the tutorial is effective, the starting area is well designed, and the controls, although somewhat unusual, are intuitive.

Once you’re learned the ropes (har), you move out into the wilderness and the game opens up, and you are introduced to the game’s survival mechanics, which involve managing your provisions, camping, foraging, and exploring.

Not only are the mechanics of play involved, and the gameplay itself rewarding and enjoyable, the environment which you are able to explore is both compelling and beautiful. Within the demo, only a small area is explorable, but even that little slice is tantalising, and reveals the true potential of the full game, and the tension that rises with every ascent is only matched by how compelling it is - every time you narrowly avoid a deadly fall, are saved by one of your safety lines, or crest a sheer rock face and get your feet on solid ground again, you’ll breathe a sigh of relief and rush eagerly to the next climb to tap back into the fear and fun of it all.

As with all demos, it’s hard to know what the final release will be like, but with this one, I’m pretty confident it’ll be a good time. The game feels complete already, and all aspects, from its mechanics to the sound design, and the visuals all feel cohesive and very well considered.

Overall, this one is a bit of a gem, and one I heartily recommend downloading the demo for - a proper fresh title, and one that’ll save you the hassle of actually climbing in real life. While you’re here, check out previous Next Fest posts, perhaps you’ll find something that has passed you by!

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month.

Leave a comment

Share

Support TYPEDBYTOM!

Games like World of Goo, Little Inferno, or Mini Metro are sometimes exactly what you need to scratch a gaming itch. Little demonstrations of physics or satisfying puzzles presented in a stylish and stripped back way get to the core of what videogames are, and are often times some of the most engaging to play. A Game About Feeding a Black Hole, made by solo developer Aarimous fits into this category perfectly.

The premise is as simple as the game’s title is long, and the mechanics of play are just about as stripped back as you can get. You are presented with a black hole and a bunch of orbiting asteroids. If you hover over them with your mouse, you do damage. Once an asteroid breaks apart through damage, it gets drawn into the event horizon and, as the title suggests, feeds the black hole.

At the end of the timer, you’ll be presented with a report of how much money (as that’s what you get for destroying the asteroids) you’ve collected, and you’ll have the option to continue or to visit the upgrade screen.

The upgrade tree is where the game gets a little more complex, but only slightly. You have the option to pick from a variety of upgrades such as faster and more damage, more asteroids, various kinds (such as chaining electric asteroids, and ones that leave an area of effect damaging cloud behind), as well as other things which augments the grounds.

You’ll eventually want to upgrade everything here, so your choices will more depend on your whims, but this is all based on the experience within the demo. There are other modes included in the full game, as well as other upgrades and options that are locked in the demo version, so some things might be different in the full release.

The game isn’t so much about strategies and challenge however, as this title more firmly falls into the chill out game category. It’s easy to play, very satisfying, and fun. The aesthetics elementary, the sound effects are delightful, the user interface is clean, and the concept is refined.

Overall, A Game About Feeding a Black Hole is simplistic fun, and often, that’s all you need to scratch that gaming itch. I’d be interested to see how far the full game goes with it’s increasingly silly asteroid destruction mechanics, but even that which is shown in the demo is fun enough. While you’re here, check out previous Next Fest posts, perhaps you’ll find something that has passed you by!

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month.

Leave a comment

Share

Support TYPEDBYTOM!

The concept of exploring an open world and entering puzzle based dungeons is an old one. Tried tested and true - the idea is compelling, enduring, and as such, it’s no surprise that the formula is often used. The Zelda games perfected it, and being so influential, it’s no wonder that Star Overdrive (developed and published by Caracal Games and Dear Villagers respectively) feels familiar in many ways. Just to look at it, the bright aesthetics and wonderful world feels like a tribute to Zelda’s latest entries (Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom), but there is more to the game than a homage, there is a more modern take here, with elements from games which you might not expect, such as sound effects akin to Satisfactory, or gameplay elements akin to Mad Max - the collection of resources in the wild and the upgrading of your vehicle, as well as the traversal of vast spaces between pockets of interest standing out as very reminiscent.

The means of traversing around the vast landscapes offered within the game is what makes it unique - the hoverboard, and zipping across the undulating dunes and hills of the area afforded by the demo is incredibly fun, and getting your speed up to max with jumps, tricks, and good landings scratches the same itch that the likes of Tony Hawk’s does. Even in the demo, the world feels vast, and exploring the in-between areas at speed in great. The overworld in set up a bit like a Ubisoft game, with the activation of towers for various things, but it’s more engaging that it sounds, and it doesn’t feel like a FarCry reskin, even if it might sound similar in many ways.

As mentioned, you can upgrade your board, and in this respect, the mechanics seem quite deep. You are able to upgrade and modify almost every aspect of your board, from the propulsion systems, to aerodynamics, the material, the paint job, and a whole heap of other parts. During the demo, I only scratched the surface of this, crafting a new engine with the parts I had scavenged. As well as augmenting your board with new parts, you can also increase its usefulness, as well as the potency of your own attacks and abilities using the skill tree, which offers a rather sizable range of additional feats, perks, and powers. These can be unlocked by collecting items in the world, and adds to the already compelling list of reasons to explore the world.

Speaking of which, the collection of various resources is just as fun as anything else, with enjoyable sound effects associated, and a good verity of off alien plants, strange crystals, animal remains, and scrap to scoop up as you explore. These, as I say, are used in crafting, and in utilising differing ratios of the ingredients will yield different results, giving your parts better stats in certain areas.

When not on your board, you’ll be moving around on foot, and even then your board comes in handy, giving you the ability to boost jump and dash. Movement is incredibly fluid, and makes for enjoyable navigation and platforming, especially when in the puzzle dungeons. Completing these allow you to acquire new powers too, which come in the form of taps, which you attack to your keytar (your main weapon), and these (at least the ones showing in the demo) allow you to manipulate objects or enemies, or give you a ranged attack for interacting with distant objects.

These powers are useful in combat, and add a nice variety of options to the already enjoyable melee system. Using the aforementioned keytar as a substitute for a sword, you can hack and slash with a handful of different moves, such as ground slams, or powered swings. Enemies have some variety too, although I assume there will be more beyond what is show in the demo. The aliens you find in the starting area are usual fare for such a game, with differing species requiring a change in strategy, such as using your keytar specials to remove shields, or to pick enemies up and lob them at others.

All in all, the combat is as fun as everything else, and culminated with a demonstration of a boss fight in which you have to take down a vast worm-like creature by making use of your special abilities and your hoverboard at the same time.

Overall, the game shows great potential, and what is offered in the demo is a generous slice of what the full has to offer. The story, while only hinted at, seems as though it has some legs, and the cheerful sci-fi aesthetic is very much appreciated, as so many games are all to dreary. The mechanics are fun, the movement is enjoyable, and the general gameplay loop feels as though it could keep a player engaged for many hours, and the music compliments the tone of the game perfectly. While you’re here, check out previous Next Fest posts, perhaps you’ll find something that has passed you by!

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month.

Leave a comment

Share

Support TYPEDBYTOM!

G-Police was one of my roster of games I’d replay back in the late 90s back when the concept of travelling around a 3D representation of a future city in a heavily armed flying police jet thing was a thrill. Turns out, it still is, and given a fresh coat of pain and a shiny new engine, the concept is just as engaging.

G-Rebels (developed and published by Reakktor Studios and Senatis respectivly) is the spiritual successor to G-Police. The big G at the start gives that away, but so does the gameplay. You are a pilot of a Skyblade, and it is your joy to police the skies in a cyberpunk megacity.

The mechanics of play are pretty simple. Moving about in your vehicle is quite reactive and snappy, and the operation of it is rather easy to grasp. You can boost, scan, shoot, and… well that’s about it. There are upgrade trees available for the various parts and modifications for your Skyblade, and a variety of activities.

With it being in such early development, there is little to say in regard to the meat of the game, and the story, but its safe to say that dogfighting is going to the be primary thing. Racing is available, and you can bounty hunt too, but most of the features are still being worked on.

Visually, the explorable space within the demo is terrifically detailed, with cars visible on the highways, other airships populating the sky, and thousands of lit windows and hundreds of neon adverts adorning the towering skyscrapers. The atmosphere is good, as are the weather effects, as well as the soundtrack and effects.

Overall there is a lot of potential here, and its good to see a game like this being made, but it’s a long way off being finished. I crashed multiple times, and the performance was a little poor - although this is expected given the fact that it’s not been fully released yet. The worst thing however isn’t how the game feels to play, but the practices of the developer. According to the game’s Steam page, they utilise AI to generate voices, which is a load of shit. It’s possible they are just a temporary measure while they source real life voice actors, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. They should have just stuck with subtitles if that were the case, as any AI use to usurp creative roles is pretty much inexcusable in my eyes. The gameplay itself is promising, but their developers practices are less than inspirational in this regard.

Overall, I had fun with what little there is to play in the demo, but it’s clearly a work in progress - that’s no problem, as that’s partly what a demo is for, to get a taste of the experience. Their use of AI is a bit of a red flag though. Worth checking in on in the future, as hopefully their generated content will have been replaced by the work of real people. Time will tell. While you’re here, check out previous Next Fest posts, perhaps you’ll find something that has passed you by!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month.

Leave a comment

Share

Support TYPEDBYTOM!

We must be living in a Strange New World (har har), because there’s a new Star Trek game on the Horizon (har har), and stranger still, it’s about Voyager, but no, it’s not another Elite Force, unfortunately. Many people rate the Voyager series as a lesser Star Trek experience, but I remember quite enjoying it at the time, and I thoroughly enjoyed those early 2000s games too, but they were a quarter of a century ago, and the TV show first aired over thirty years ago - so as I said, it does seem a little odd to see this game popping up now.

The game (developed by Gamexcite, and published by Daedalic Entertainment) plays out from a variety of different viewpoints, with much of the story and dialogue taking place on the bridge, the repair, construction, and upgrading of the ships various rooms from the point of view of a LCARS screen, the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant through a 3D solar system screen, and the combat through a semi-real time system wherein you utilise the abilities of your crew and the capabilities of your ship against your foes.

The story itself follows the course of the TV show very closely, but with differing outcomes depending on your own choices. Only a little of this is show in real terms in the demo, but for the most part the story aspects of the game play out like a choose your own adventure, and is quite dialogue heavy. There are options in the menu for dialogue volume, but no characters are voiced in the demo version. It seems that this will be addressed in the full release, but to what extent is yet to be seen. While it seems a little odd at first while playing, you quickly get used to it, and if you’ve seen the show, you just sort of hear their voices anyway, so it’s not the end of the world. One thing that is a little harder to get used to however is the lack of sound in general. Yes there are sound effects, but the ambiance of Trek is somewhat lacking, and iconic noises are strangely absent - again this is more of a demo issue, as this is due to be addressed in the future as well… perhaps watching on a Star Trek series on another screen would help.

The general operation and management of the ship is akin to the base building in the newer XCOM games, functioning almost exactly the same, with individual rooms focusing on various ship systems, or crew management, with with ability to modify or upgrade these functions. you have to clear rooms, power them, construct new facilities, crew and upgrade them. It’s rather involved, and is a very enjoyable system.

Visually, the game is rather lovely too, and it’s clear that the developers have a passion for the series. Space, the astral bodies, the ships and the various rooms within, and even the crew are all very well realised, and most importantly, screen accurate.

It’s hard to know whether this game would be more enjoyable as a fan of the Voyager show, or just Star Trek in general. With the story being so closely associated with that of the series, it’s far less likely to be surprising to those who have watched it all, but then again, the mechanics of choice and chance play a big role, so perhaps that wouldn’t be an issue. The premise of the show translates so perfectly into a videogame format though, and while I was excited to try the demo, I certainly wasn’t expecting the game to be quite as good as it is, and for the first time in a while, I was very much absorbed, playing it way past by bedtime!

The game suffers (in a good way) from one-more-turn-itis, and with some many little things to manage, there is always something to do, somewhere to go, something to research or upgrade, or some story element to pursue. Another thing that works so well is that each chunk of the game, the exploration, the story, the ship management, and the combat are all distinct from one another, and as a result the gameplay feels continually fresh, which is quite the feat from something based on a pretty old TV show.

Overall I was very impressed with this game, and I’m certainly going to be checking out the full release when it arrives. I’m intrigued to see where the story might divert from the show, and how far you can take things off course. I’m also excited to see what the final version of the game might look like, and excited to get past episode one, which is all you get to see in the demo (although that is easily an hour’s worth of gameplay in itself). It’s also got me wanting to watch the show again… While you’re here, check out previous Next Fest posts, perhaps you’ll find something that has passed you by!

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month.

Leave a comment

Share

Support TYPEDBYTOM!

The beautiful and mysterious world of MOTORSLICE (developed and published by Regular Studio and Top Hat Studios respectively) feels like an amalgamation of many titles, but it brings its own qualities to bear, creating a fresh take on those game it seeks to imitate. The first thing you’ll notice when starting the game is its aesthetic - clean shapes, simple textures, a pastel colour palette, and a strange dystopian future setting. Your goal? To navigate the world and to destroy the mega machines that populate it. If that sounds similar to Shadow of the Colossus, you’d be right, and save for the aforementioned setting and distinct lack of a dying girlfriend and a horse to chum about with, it’s pretty much the same concept - and what a welcome concept that is!

What is shown off in the demo is rather limited, but it gives a good taste of what the full title is all about - which is the exploration and navigation of the game world. This is what you’ll chiefly be doing, and involves lots of sprinting, jumping, climbing, wall running, and all sorts of parkour activities. The level design is very virtually orientated, and you’ll find yourselves meandering around vast structures and doubling back over and under yourself in order to reach the next area. In this respect the game is akin to the likes of Mirrors Edge (both mechanically and stylistically), as well as Tomb Raider (for the awe and general jumping nonsense), and funnily enough, Super Meat Boy, because you’ll no doubt be ground to a bloody mess far more often than you’d like by the various hazards about the place.

Navigation for the most part is quite solid, although there is some vagary that might cause you some frustration initially. These come into focus when shimmying along cracks in walls and jumping to and from them, and a little bit with the wall traversal mechanic involving your sword. I think it’s just a case of practice makes perfect though, and after a while, you really do get into the groove and get to a point where you build up a pace - which brings to mind the likes of Ghostrunner, another jumpy-get-killed-a-lot game.

It isn’t all prancing about however, there is combat too. This mechanic, while servable, is, at least in the demo, limited. Despite its simplicity, it is quite satisfying though. Swings with the chainsaw blade are heavy and hits result in nice crunchy deaths, bringing to mind the likes to the Surge, both for the combat itself and the enemies you face, as what you’ll be killing is lots of machines. Just beware that doing so will get you covered in oil - unless you fall to your death, whereupon you’ll burst like a bloody pulpy balloon. Falling in combat isn’t too much of a concern with the regular enemies, but it does become a consideration when facing off against the bosses, which serves as the end goal for the demo. As mentioned, this is very similar to Shadow of the Colossus, and will see you in a vast arena facing off against said machine - in this instance, a massive dump truck. These fights involve climbing onto the machine (while it’s moving), and making your way around and up it, targeting its vulnerable extremities with your sword as you do, eventually destroying it in the process. Like I say, very Colossus-esque, but a very under utilised mechanic, so it’s nice to see a fresh take in a new game.

Overall, this game is very enjoyable, and just about the right level of taxing, allowing you to bask in the wonder of its strangely beautiful and lonely world, and while it might seem a little scant, there is more hinted at than is shown in the demo. While you’re here, check out previous Next Fest posts, perhaps you’ll find something that has passed you by!

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month.

Leave a comment

Share

Support TYPEDBYTOM!

Were Hunter S. Thompson, Max Payne, Jacket from Hotline Miami, Moon Night, John Wick, and a bunch of Tarantino characters to perform a carnal act, the resultant child would be Jackal. Developed by Transhuman Design, this game oozes style - combining noir, Egyptian mythology, 70’s fashion, and brutally chunky ultra-violence.

Within the game you take on the role of a “coked-up force of nature loose in Sin City’s underbelly” - essentially a drug fuelled hitman with a burning desire to butcher his way through Las Vegas. It’s brilliant fun, and through the various cutscenes, you’ll experience the protagonist’s wit and charm, as well as his Payne-esque poeticism.

Entering the game proper, you might be surprised to find that the mechanics are relatively straightforward, given the rather over the top premise. You click to attack, you can dash to take enemies by surprise, you can knock weapons from your foes, or kick furniture at them, you can chuck weapons as them too, and you can beat the ever loving shit out of them as well… oh, and you can occasionally use magic on them too - the ability to use such supernatural powers are granted to you by Anubis, of course, because you’re sort of chums with him (although maybe it’s all just the drugs).

Levels play out very much like the aforementioned Hotline Miami (which the developers cite as a prime inspiration), although this title certainly looks far prettier, and as such is a tad more gory. Levels consist of a series of interconnecting rooms within which a variety of baddies reside (and occasionally civilians). Your task is to hack your way through and to fully clear the space… without dying. If you do perish, and you probably will, the room just restarts, and you keep on trying until you overcome the challenge. Once you’ve mastered a raid though, returning again will offer a different experience, with randomly generated rooms, differing enemies, various finishers to take down your foes, as well as gameplay modifiers, such as harder enemies, or randomised starting weapons.

Weapon variety is very good, with all sorts of melee offerings, such as fringing pans, knives, pool cues, katanas, baseball bats, along with a whole raft more. Ranged weapons are a little more limited, but you can expect the usual array - pistols, shotguns, and submachine guns (there may be more, but that is all I saw in the demo).

There is no stealth mechanic, and no real subtlety, but that’s the point with this one. You are a very blunt instrument, and it’s an absolute joy to just go charging in. Kicking down a door, chucking a bat at some blokes head, then running off to bludgeon the rest of the goons there is endlessly enjoyable, and the fun and excessive gore, along with the lovely aesthetics of the world around you make for a visual treat.

The story is somewhat vague in the snippet offered in the demo, but the storytelling, the visuals, the voiceover, the music, and the general quality of the experience is incredibly impressive, very evocative, and certainly makes you want to learn more, and more importantly, play more.

Overall, Jackal is a breath of fresh air. There is a simplicity to it that, despite the almost preposterous levels of violence, brings a sort of zen quality, and murdering your way through hotels and casinos, and various other locales in Vegas is as calming as it is thrilling. While you’re here, check out previous Next Fest posts, perhaps you’ll find something that has passed you by!

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month.

Leave a comment

Share

Support TYPEDBYTOM!

With the audio on hold for the time being, I decided to focus my efforts on figuring out exactly how I wanted the footage to appear, and I first began with the idea of incorporating text. I had the titles set already for the pieces, but I felt like I needed something else to point a potential viewer in the right direction. I looked at other interpretations of the Orpheus myth to help with this, first looking at The Storyteller (1990) which focus on Greek myths, with one in particular about Orpheus and Eurydice. When Orpheus travels to the underworld to confront Hades, and his part in their conversation stood out as relevant.

And this quote by Persephone in which she is explaining the manners of death to Orpheus and how it consumes us all felt relevant, especially to passage of time, which was another key aspect of my presentation.

Further research led me to the Tennessee Williams play Orpheus Descending, and its television adaptation. The play is a modernised retelling of the Orpheus myth and deals with the powers of passion, art, and the imagination, and how they can be used to redeem and revitalise life in an elemental fashion. This gives new meaning to the original, and this I found most intriguing, as that was at the heart of my own project - my quest to create something modern, something new. I also found that within the play there was a huge amount of anticipation, and this was utilised in several scenes, which also led back to my original intent of capturing the sense of anticipation that Orpheus might have prior to his eventual descent.

The title of the play was also a key inspiration for my own interpretation and extrapolation. Orpheus’ descent, as the title suggests, led me to the rather literal interpretation I found myself capturing with the lift scene, showing a literal descent of the Orpheus character within the canon of the retelling and I took this use of the word and used it as an introductory key for the start of the footage.

The inclusion of text brought with it a whole raft of other problems such as formatting, sizing, placement, colour etcetera, but also, most importantly, the choice of font. I wanted it to be clean and legible most of all, and for it to lean into the modern take (a cursive font, for example, might have hinted at the antiquity and origins of the myth). I didn’t want it to distract or confuse a viewer, and I also wanted it to be plain enough as not to be a focus in and of itself - it had to deliver the message, rather than be one. I eventually settled on a sans-serif Ryoichi Tsunekawa designed font called Bebas Neue, which is know for being very clean and legible.

With the font chosen, I shifted my focus back to the work itself, and the duration of the video piece. This led me back to a quote by Persephone within the earlier referenced Storyteller show.

This, along with David Cotterrell’s mention of an hour-long flight made me reconsider the duration of the piece I was creating. As with the sound design, I wanted to produce a piece that was heavy with intensity and expectation, conveying a dense of dread as the prospect of what would be the final outcome. This, combined with an aforementioned piece by Andy Warhol led me to believe that the duration of the work was vital to the success of the piece. His 1964 experimental piece ‘Empire’ was in excess of eight hour in length, and beyond the scope of my own project, being too long for the concept I was wanting to portray, however, the idea of pushing the length beyond comfort, even just a little, seemed desirable to me, especially when combined with an ever incredibly unbearable soundtrack.

So a font was chosen, and a title sort of set, but other than that, and the idea of making the thing unbearably long, I was sort of struggling to make any other concrete decisions on the presentation, which you’ll see in the next part, in which I go on on a tangent and almost abandon the idea of a video piece entirely.

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month.

Leave a comment

Share

I’ve been wanting to get a new BluRay player for the past few months, and as such, have spent an inordinate about of time doing research (as I always do before buying something expensive). This led me down all sorts of thought alleys, which all sort of ended in the thinking that just a BluRay player was a bit of a waste, and for just a little more, or in some cases, a little less, I could pickup a console, which would then allow me to play more games in the living room, as well as films. I was umming and ahing about what console to get then, and spent even longer looking through countless eBay listing for good deals on a PlayStation or XBox. I thought that perhaps either a PS3, a PS4, or an Xbox One X would suit, disregarding the Series X as it seems to be ever increasing in price, and there are other considerations too, so I thought I may as well have my money go to some random person on the internet instead.

I eventually settled on the Xbox One X, finding a decent condition Scorpio edition for around £160 in box (although later eBay kindly notified me of a better condition one for £60 less about a week later, cheers eBay). After a surprisingly brief wait, and a concerning image from the Royal Mail stating that they had delivered it exactly where I had requested they not deliver it, I was in the possession of yet another means of gaming - hurrah.

I wasn’t particularly drawn to this version for any reason, but the fact that it reminds me of Hank Scorpio every time I look at it pleases me greatly.

Other than an old Simpsons reference, what excited me most about the console was the vast backwards compatibility library, with almost 700 titles covering the original XBox and the 360, which covers a good variety of games, although there are some glaring omissions, which is a shame. This number is still well beyond what Microsoft needed to do (although more would be appreciated), and is far better than having to subscribe for them, or whatever, although I wouldn’t put that past any company in the future - Nintendo do it, but it’s harder to plug a SNES cartridge into a Switch than it is to put a disc in a disc drive… although finding a disc drive will soon be a problem. This all means that visiting a CEX has become more useful endeavour once again, as my aisles to browse were somewhat limited, and my latest visit yielded this nice find for the Metal Gear Solid collection, never having acquired the HD version the first time around.

The Steam Deck was my most recent purchase of a gaming device a couple of years ago, and apart from a PSOne I purchased for a Secret Santa gift, and the Switch for my wife, the previous most recent console was probably the WiiU, and that was a VERY long time ago! So the excitement of getting a new piece of tech hooked up to the telly, even if it was released in 2017 (and came with a Nintendo HDMI lead and a Sky box power cable…), was great, and it still gave me a taste of that childlike joy, and after installing the BluRay player and all the 360 games I had to hand, as well as a few new Xbox One titles, I got to playing, and also planning a raid of the parent’s attic to fully stock the thing with old treasures.

For an almost eight year piece of tech, it still feels remarkably up to date, it’s responsive, and well featured, and for the amount I’ll use it (likely one film a week and a few odd hours of gaming here and there), it’s more than adequate, and being able to play certain older titles without the effort of setting up emulating, especially the 360 era games, it’s a godsend, especially for the likes of Crackdown and Fable 2, neither of which I’ve had any luck in getting to work otherwise. It’s hard to predict what the console space will be like in the future, but as each year goes by, I find myself getting ever more resistant to subscriptions and digital only platforms. The benefits are undeniable, but so are the downsides. The Xbox One X is probably worthless without the internet and without the servers that service the console, it’s almost certainly beyond useless, but at least in home console mode, and with games preinstalled, it’s at least somewhat shielded from that pesky consideration. Second hand console purchases are often risky besides their viability in the future, all the more with internet integrated ones, so it’s hard to tell if I’ve been duped in more than one way just yet, but all seems good so far, so fingers crossed it won’t become a paperweight too soon. And if one day Microsoft sever the connection, I’m sure there will be someone on a forum somewhere with a cheeky fix… Continuing with my delusions, ideally I’d have all my old consoles hooked up and I’d be making use of the original games on their original hardware, but even when I had access to them, having them all ready to go was beyond my means - my SCART switcher did its duty, but the MFI TV unit I had back then could only bear so much, and besides, there is only so much time in the day. For now, with this, along with my PC and my Steam Deck, I’m pretty well served.

What consoles do you have? Do you keep lots hooked up at once or do you just stick with one? And if you have an Xbox One X, let me know what you think, and if you’ve done anything exciting with it, such as installing emulators for other platforms. I’ve been through all that with the Steam Deck, so I’m not quite ready to do that all over again just yet... Sooner rather than later though, I’m sure.

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month.

Leave a comment

Share

I picked this little title up during a year or so ago sale having heard mention of it on a podcast or something - I can’t quite remember exactly who recommended it, but it must have been someone trustworthy, as I picked it up without doing any research, other than checking if it was Steam Deck approved, which it is. After buying the game and a very quick download, I settled myself down on the sofa and began, not knowing exactly what it was I was about to play. All I knew was that it was a space combat game, it was apparently good, and had nothing to do with The Animals song of a similar title.

It turns out that it is good - very good. Although it’s very short, despite some built in replayability. But given that the game was, as far as I can tell, created entirely (save the music) by a solo developer - that being Mike Tipul, the game becomes elevated. I’m always in awe of developers who manage to create fully realised games by themselves, and in light of this, the shortcomings of House of the Dying Sun (the main being that it’s quite short) are easily cast aside, and actually, it’s quite nice to play through something a little lighter. The game was originally in development for some years prior to it surfacing under the name House of the Dying Sun, originally meant to be known as Enemy Starfighter - it seems as though HotDS is quite a bit paired down to what Tipul originally intended, and it shows in the brevity of the experience, but what the game does contain is well considered, and tightly implemented.

If you’ve played the likes of Everspace, you’ll be familiar with the premise. After a brief tutorial, which has you manoeuvring your interceptor, cycling targets, and testing your weapons, the game begins proper. The main screen shows a series of missions along a sector map, and available missions can be played in any order, and once complete will unlock the next mission in a sort of progress tree leading to the final encounter. Missions have some decent variety, and sometimes offer the player different kinds of rewards, be it weapons and upgrades, or, more vitally, an expansion to your fleet.

Initially, you’ll begin the first missions with just the one interceptor, but eventually you’ll unlock more, filling out your little fleet with of interceptors, destroyers, and frigates, and with an increased fleet size comes some of the game’s depth. Each time you load into a mission, you’ll default to the strategic view, which allows you to issue more complex orders to your fleet, allowing for splitting of your forces and focusing on certain enemies and objectives. You can only directly control the interceptors however, and you must be cautious with these vessels, for if they are all destroyed (even if your others ships are intact), you will lose the mission. If your currently controlled interceptor gets destroyed, you will be able to assume command of the next available one, and your pool of interceptors can be replenished with reinforcements if you can get enough kills (three per respawn).

The strategic view is very easy to use, both on PC and Steam Deck, and the interceptor control is equally enjoyable on either platform. The game suits either, but it’s probably ever so slightly easier with a keyboard and mouse. The game was also developed with VR in mind, but I don’t have the equipment to test how it plays on a headset, but I can only imagine the experience is just as good (if not better). The combat is very satisfying too, given the relative simplicity of the game. You can choose from a small variety of weapon loadouts, (on your interceptors and the rest of your fleet), as well as various upgrades, which can be purchased using the points accrued from completing missions - be it better shields, faster engines, repair drones, or a plethora of other bonuses and alterations. The points are greatly increased if you choose a higher difficulty setting, and with each mission there are four tiers of challenge (with the fourth being unlockable). Most missions also have bonus objectives that allow for the collection of additional points.

I won’t spoil the story of the game - although I will say that it is pretty bare. What is conveyed however is a sense of atmosphere, and what little bits of the story you do gleam indicate a very dark universe. The game opens with a string of text telling of the death of the Emperor - his lords have betrayed him, and it is up to you, and the remnants of his loyal guards to carry out his final edicts - to hunt the traitors and bring ruin to their people. Like I say, pretty grim, and evokes the lore of Dune or the 40k universe.

Visually, the game is pretty similar to most space sims, but I don’t mean that to take anything away from the game - the various solar systems you explore while playing through the campaign are varied and beautiful. If you like space, you’ll find this title a visual treat. The ship design, while rather utilitarian, is decent too, and somewhat evocative of the Homeworld games. The sound design is fantastic too, really immersing you in the universe, as is the music, which was created by Olivier Zuccaro, who you might be familiar with from his work on E.YE: Divine Cybermancy, Space Hulk: Deathwing, and Necromunda: Hired Gun. The beating drums, deep long held notes, heavy ominous throaty vocal cues, harmonised choir sections, and quick paced strings fit perfectly with the tone of the game, giving it the gravitas it's vague and grim story and gameplay deserves.

All in all, House of the Dying Sun is a little gem, and scratches the space combat simulation itch perfectly, and given Tipul’s previous postings (at Pandemic and Bungie, working on series’ such as Halo at the latter), it’s hardly surprising. Some titles in this genre have incredibly steep learning curves, and can require a huge commitment to get into (Egosoft’s X series of games, for example), but with this, you can just jump in for a few battles and jump out again. The controls are tight and intuitive, and overall the game is fun to pick up and play - and if you’ve read any of my other Quest Log posts, you’ll know that a fun gameplay experience is always the priority for me.

There we go, shot and sweet space action. Have you played this one? If so, what did you think? And do dabble in other space sims? If you have any recommendations, let me know!

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month:

• Jamie B

Leave a comment

Share

If you’d like to read more of our trips, you can check out the ADVENTURES category by clicking here. And if you missed part one, click below!

Day 3:

The next morning a bout of hunger hit us, and we made the very best of our prepaid breakfast buffet. Bacon and cheese sandwiches, various jams on toast, a bowl of grapes and watermelon, pastries, doughnuts, a pear, a banana, a bowl of granola, hot chocolate, multiple americanos, an espresso, and orange juice. We had some variety of these each day, along with some other bits and pieces which changed daily, but this was our most hungry morning. After all that, we decided to walk down to the Plaza de España, one of the sights we were both particularly eager to visit – one we weren’t disappointed by. We both said at the time that it was probably one of the most beautiful places either of us have ever been to, and I think it’ll take something pretty special to beat it.

The architecture, the considered layout, the tilework and the grandeur of the entire place is stunning beyond belief, the beauty of which, I think, can only really be appreciated in person. It’s obvious why they chose the plaza as a filming location in Star Wars to represent the planet of Naboo, as it certainly feels of that world. No droids or whiny evil teens in sight though, luckily. Once again, the quietness of the city made our visit here even better, as did getting there early, as it was very quiet and allowed for us to enjoy it to its fullest. After walking around for about an hour, watching a bit of flamenco, and listening to some singers and guitarists set up about the place, we decided to hire a rowboat to enjoy the curved moat. We were expecting a bit of a gouging here but were pleasantly surprised to find that it cost a mere €6 for half an hour! A lovely relaxing experience, and one I heartily recommend if you visit. After that, we wanted to explore the surrounding gardens and decided to hire another mode of transport – one that viewers of the Chuckle Brothers might recognise. Unfortunately, the Chucklemobile itself wasn’t available, but generic quadracycles were. This was a little more expensive than the boat, but still cheap at only €15 for half an hour, which we also thought was pretty good. This was a very enjoyable way to explore the gardens in good time, and the addition of a cloth roof meant that we were out of the sun a little bit more too, which was certainly appreciated.

After returning the quadracycle we decided to make for the river, expecting some lovely shops or bars to explore. Unfortunately, the part of the river near the plaza is basically a bare slab of concrete with a few industrial oddments dotted about – definitely not what we had imagined, so after a quick look at the river, we made our way back through the plaza gardens to search for somewhere to get a drink. We found a lovely little bar in amongst another park area on our way back to the hotel, but despite ordering, our drinks never arrived, and eager to get to our pool, we decided to just make for our hotel and to get a drink in the bar there.

The hotel swimming pool is very modest in size but perfect for a quick dip between stints on the sun lounger, and with the lovely surroundings, well stocked bar, and good food available, the afternoon was very relaxing. After sunning ourselves for a good long while, we made for the covered section to enjoy the dappled sunlight. After picking our spot, we ordered ourselves some food and drinks and settled in with our books for a few more hours, enjoying the calming atmosphere and gentle background music.

Day 4:

We decided to get up a little later but made sure to get our included breakfast – very important not to miss that! More toast and coffee and things, and after filling up for our explorations, we made for the city centre again, stopping at one of the pharmacies for some pain relief roll on, both of us suffering with a bad neck and back. After applying some of that delicious pain relief, we got on - we wanted to see some Flamenco one evening, so we stopped by one of the local tour shops. The very helpful guide there sold us tickets for a show later that night, and after a quick chat (he laughed when we told him that we went to the boring part of the river), we decided to spend the rest of the day looking around the shopping area a little more and visiting the Setas de Sevilla.

After that, we opted to go for lunch at a local taco place called La Malinche Taqueria that Lottie had heard about. When ordering we somehow ended up with quite a bit more than we had wanted, and most contained meat, which meant that I had to pull most of the weight in the eating department, but that was no problem! Delicious, and just about the right amount of spice. A beer and a juice to wash them down, and it was back to exploring and shopping, picking up some odd bits and pieces along the way.

Lots of walking made us very tired by late afternoon, so we settled down in a café for a while for a few drinks and something to eat, and after a few games of cards, we felt refreshed enough to resume, exploring more of the city before finding somewhere to grab dinner – this being a lovely selection of tapas dishes again. Our booking for the flamenco show was at 8:30, so after settling our bill we walked back to the Triana district to a place called Sala Almoraima. There we were treated to an incredible display of musical, vocal, and dance skill in a very intimate setting. There was only seating for about 30 people, and we were within a couple of feet of the performers. We didn’t really know what to expect, but we were both very impressed by the talent and passion of each of the four performers. The hours show went by in a flash, and after that we wandered back across the city to our hotel once more.

On our way back, we found a free music show happening, so stopped in on that for a few songs, and as we walked past the cathedral to admire it lit at night, we were treated again to something musical as two violists played in the square there. A very musical and wonderful evening – and we retired to our hotel a little past midnight very tired, but very happy.

Day 5:

For our last day, we wanted to make the most of the roof terrace and pool, having only used it for a few hours, and as we weren’t planning on leaving the hotel until the evening, we took a leisurely start, going down to breakfast a little later than usual. After that, we made our way up to the pool and secured a couple of sun loungers, going from these and to the pool for most of the day, taking detours to the bar for snacks, ice creams, and drinks on occasion.

At around 6pm we went back to our room to get an hour or so of shade and to get changed for our evening out. We wandered around the Plaza del Triunfo for a while, enjoying the sights and sounds, eating some Pastel de Natas, and snooping around some more of the shops. After that, we found ourselves somewhere to eat and enjoyed our last dinner in Seville. Once we had eaten, we decided to wander some more, soaking in as much of the atmosphere as we could. When buying our pastries earlier we had seen that the hotel next to it had a terrace bar overlooking the cathedral, but sort of forgot about it, but the door to the toiles of the restaurant we were eating at opened into the hotels lobby, and after a confusing few minutes and walking in circles for a bit, we eventually found someone to ask if it was open. After checking on the radio, it turns out that were was enough room for us, and after climbing the stairs and being guided to our table by a greeter waiting for us, we were led to the most stunning views of the plaza and the cathedral itself, and after ordering a couple of cocktails we revelled in the wonderful sights. After all that, we wondered back to our hotel for the last time and did the majority of our packing before getting to bed, our fight being at around 10am the next morning.

Day 6:

An early start for our trip home and a very quick breakfast – I only had time for two rounds of toast and one coffee… sad. Our taxi arrived shortly after we returned to the lobby, and after being dropped off at the airport we made our way through security and settled down by the gate. There were probably only a handful of people there before us, but we ended up being the very last people to board, as the airline folks had a problem with Lottie’s bag. No one mentioned it on our flight out, but apparently it was slightly too big to return, so they watched as Lottie pulled a bag from her bag and put about three items in it – it made no real difference, but as they watched us cram it into the size checker, they just waved us on. Apparently two bags are allowed but one isn’t… it still fit with ample room in the overhead locker so whatever. Once we were boarded, we ordered a nice muffin and a coffee and settled in again for what ended up being another very swift and painless flight. A bit of reading and a nap later and we were back in England. It started spitting the moment we stepped outside the airport.

After walking to the bus stop, we waited for our transfer bus, and before long we were back at the car park loading our bags in and driving home. We got back at about 2pm and after squeezing in a load of washing we looked over our hoard of collected rubbish and purchases before taking half an hour to relax before meeting up with our family for a belated birthday celebration. Summer holidays done for another year.

Not sure where we’ll end up on our next trip, but it’s hard to imagine visiting somewhere more picturesque! It was a shame not to visit the sea this time, but that’s what you get with city breaks!

As always, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month:

• Jamie B

Leave a comment

Share

If you’d like to read more of our trips, you can check out the ADVENTURES category by clicking here.

A month or so ago Lottie and I got the creeping need for a holiday. We had expected not to be able to afford an overseas trip, opting instead for something a bit more local, but as luck would have it, Lottie found a pretty good deal for a trip to Seville and as neither of us had been before we jumped at the chance to visit the famously beautiful city. A bit of research and some booking, and our unexpected holiday was set, and a few weeks later, we found ourselves packing our bags. When booking, we decided against paying for hold bags, this option adding up to almost £100 each! Madness. We decided instead to get a pair of backpacks that matched the airline’s criteria for cabin bags - £20 each, much better. We also packed all our stuff in extra-large zip lock bags, squeezing the air out to save space. which worked incredibly well. After lots of shoving things in our new bags, we set our alarms and got a relatively early night.

Day 1:

Beeping woke us up as planned at 1:30 am, and after shaking of our drowsiness and packing our last few essentials and readying ourselves, we heaved our bags down to the car and set off to the airport parking company we had booked with. The drive was very quiet, as expected for the time of day, and within 40 minutes we were dropping the keys off and boarding the transfer bus to the terminal. Once we have cleared security, we made our way to one of the airport restaurants for breakfast, peach melba porridge for Lottie and a full English for me. The waitress asked if I wanted toast with my meal, my mind changed immediately when she told me it would cost an additional £3.50… NO THANKS! The food was lovely regardless of the optional gouging, and after that we had a brief look around the shops. I picked up a neck pillow as recommended by the chiropractor I had been seeing the week prior, having almost crippled myself exercising. This brought back memories of our trip to Portugal in 2018 in which I was hospitalised while we were queueing to get our plane home, so the thought of this reoccurring hung over us for much of the leadup to the holiday. Luckily, no such emergencies cursed this trip! Along with the pillow we grabbed some water, a magazine for me and word search book for Lottie, and made for the gate, the time seeming to go, as always at the airport (sans delays), very quickly.

Boarding went very smoothly, as did the flight, which was almost half an hour quicker than expected, and after a big bag of chocolate fingers (which had become a kind of tradition as it feels like the best value stack), a coffee, a bit of reading, and the all-important nap, we arrived in Seville at about 9:30am. The forecasts for the week prior to our arrival had the temperature at well over 40 for most of the time, but as luck would have it, it got just a tad cooler while we were there, and stepping off the plane we were met with that wonderful holiday heat. Swift passage through the airport got us to the taxi rank, and there we found a cabbie to take up straight to the hotel, which only cost about €25. After arriving at the hotel (of which we had very good first impressions), we dropped our bags off and set out again - we had to check in at 2pm so had a bit of time to kill, and as we were hungry and eager to gain our bearings, we decided to have a little wander around the immediate area, exploring a local park and a couple of minimarts and finding a café to grab a second breakfast (we’re hobbits).

After fortifying ourselves with a bit of food, we wandered back to the hotel to check in and to properly investigate the facilities. As I’ve mentioned, our first impressions were good, and these were confirmed by the overall quality of the hotel (it being the ibis Styles Sevilla). The décor, fittings, facilities, the food, the bar, the pool, the bed… all of it was very good. We wanted to refresh ourselves before setting out again and also wanted to take a little bit of time to relax after the busy morning, so we made for the roof terrace and enjoyed a quick dip in the pool there. Feeling very refreshed, we changed and set out once more to explore, making for Barrio Santa Cruz, passing through the Murillo Gardens, the surrounding area there, passing through the charming narrow streets, peeking into the various shops, taking in the sights of the cathedral, and getting an all-important ice cream before entering the Royal Alcázar of Seville, the stunning historic royal palace and beautiful gardens within which it is situated.

We booked tickets for this in advance of our arrival, it apparently filling up very quickly. What we soon realised was that Seville is VERY quiet in August. Apparently, the city’s busy period is during the spring, as it is usually a bit too hot during the height of summer, but with our luck giving us a slightly cooler week (heights of 41) we had the wonderful combination of incredible weather and far fewer tourists. This meant that almost everywhere we went had a nice atmosphere, but without the teeming crowds, allowing for us to really appreciate the attractions - the only downside of this being that the many orange trees that have been planted across the city were bearing small green balls instead of colourful orange ones… this wasn’t really a deal breaker though as the hotel had a ready supply each morning. The palace, like the complementary oranges, was quite a bit bigger than we had expected, but it’s just as stunning as you might imagine, featuring a variety of architectural influences, all of which combine to create a truly beautiful building, and the gardens compliment the palace and its adjoining structures perfectly.

After spending a few hours exploring the myriad rooms and areas of the palace and grounds, we set out in search of sustenance, finding a lovely local bar for a drink and some tapas – chorizo, alioli potatoes, olives, and bread. After that, we then wandered the city a little longer, finally stopping for some afters and some more drinks in another bar before somewhat wearily making our way back to the hotel. When we got back, we sifted through the channels on the telly and found two options in English – the BBC world service, and a channel showing cartoons (although the adverts were in German) so we switched between these two while in the room for the rest of the trip. After a bit of Sponge Bob and Futurama, we finally settled down to sleep, ending a very lovely, but quite tiring day.

Day 2:

We decided to book an excursion for our second day as it was going to be my birthday, so we put our alarms on early again and got ourselves up and ready for a trip to Ronda. After a hearty breakfast downstairs in the hotel we made for the pickup point and after a brief wait at the tour companies building, our guide took our group down the street to where the coach was parked, and joining the rest of the group aboard, we set off, out of the city to our first stop off at Zahara de la Sierra, visiting an olive oil press for a tasting. After this we took a quick drive into the village for refreshments, a little nose around, and a little break. Unfortunately, three of our group failed to return on time, which meant we had quite a bit less time in Ronda later, but they got a sufficient telling off from our guide upon their eventual return – God knows what they got up to, there wasn’t all that much to do in the village!

Anyway, after that we made for our next stop, which was to get lunch at a lovely restaurant in another little village a few miles away called Grazalema. We only had about an hour to eat, and my meal didn’t arrive until about 45 minutes had passed, which meant a rather swift bit of eating on my part. A bit of a shame to have to rush, but the food and atmosphere was lovely, and everyone else seemed to have a lovely time too. After that, we had a couple of minutes to get to the coach pickup point, and before long we were on our way to Ronda itself.

Due to the aforementioned lateness of a few of our group, we had about half an hour less to explore, which meant we had less than two hours overall, and with the walk from the bus station, we really were pressed for time and didn’t quite have enough of it to fully explore the city as much as we’d have liked. We wanted to explore the trail to the old bridge, for example, but that would have taken up the majority of our time there, so we opted for nosing around the underside of the new bridge (El Tajo de Ronda), the gardens (Alameda del Tajo), and a few other sights, such as the bull ring, which we saw for free via the roof terrace of the overlooking hotel. Despite having such a brief time there, we were very happy to have been able to visit, and what we saw was beautiful, and the area around the gorge is well worth the visit alone – stunning views and the whole area is steeped in rich history.

Before long we found ourselves trekking back to the bus stop and on our way back to Seville we enjoyed a well-earned nap – there’s nothing quite as nice as sleeping on a moving vehicle, especially when you’re used to being the one whose driving. When getting back, we weaved through the city making our way to one of the minimarts to grab a bunch of snacks to take back to our hotel room - crisps, nuts, sweets, biscuits, beer, and iced tea, and we made quick work of these while laying back in bed and watching more cartoons.

Part two will follow next week - as usual, I’ve written too much. Have you ever been to Seville? What did you do while there? We had planned on visiting Cádiz on one of our days but couldn’t get train tickets… Turns out we packed quite a lot in anyway.

As always, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month:

• Jamie B

Leave a comment

Share

Inertial Drift, developed by Level 91 Entertainment, and published by PQube is an arcade racer, but more than that, it’s a refreshing take, one that breathes new life into the genre. Like most racers of this ilk, it features a selection of vehicle options that are tied to the difficulty level, and with this game, in the story at least, there are initially three drivers available for you to assume, these being Edward, Ada, and Ibba (with Viv unlockable upon completion). Each of these drivers feature a different model of vehicle with varying acceleration, handling, and top speed. Picking one of these begins the story mode, and from there you will face off against a cast of other characters and perform a set of challenges on each course.

The courses are very well designed and fun to drive through, with a nice variety of locales, featuring fast straights, sweeping curves, and hairpin turns, all of which combine to create an exciting experience. Challenges for each setting consist of a handful of events, ranging from practice runs, time attacks, ghost battles, duels, style drives, and standard races. Each of these are fun in their own right and provide a decent amount of challenge and diversity, but by their very nature, they make the courses feel quite repetitive. Most of the events have you performing three laps, and with three challenges per track, you could be racing around the same course as many as nine times in one go, more if you want to practice first. This is only a slight issue though as the longest track is only about four or five minutes long. Additional events are available outside of the story in the challenge and arcade modes however, and these provide much more variety, as the tracks are reused in different ways, either by being mirrored, cut up, or repurposed. This approach is also carried into the Grand Prix option, which adds a great amount of replayability to the game, allowing for you to take on a greater variety of track variants using the vehicles you have unlocked, of which there are lots.

The courses and vehicles aren’t this game’s selling point however, despite being well designed in and of themselves. What makes Inertial Drift so unique, is its unique twin stick driving mechanic which allows for you to drift around the tracks at breakneck speed. Initially I found this quite off-putting, and not picking the easiest difficulty first had me quite frustrated. After switching to the starter vehicle and getting to grips with the controls however, the game opened up, and its mechanics came alive. The left stick is used to adjust your steering, but is standardly almost imperceptible, and this is, at least at first, quite unintuitive. Used in combination with your drift (right) stick however, and it allows you to glide around corners majestically, and combining the two, in conjunction with well-timed breaking will give you full command over your vehicle. The difficulty between vehicles is focused on this, and drifting becomes much harder with the faster cars, and getting good at each requires quite a bit of effort on the part of the player.

If you can master the controls enough to appreciate the visuals of the game, you’ll be well rewarded by this too. The game brings to mind the likes of Ridge Racer Type 4 in terms of its sound design and track types, and visually it resembles Auto Modellista with its cartoonish looks, and if you can take your eye off the road for a moment, you might think you’re driving through the streets of Crackdown’s Pacific City, which I think would be a good crossover…

With its impressive visuals, unique mechanics, well designed tracks, fully loaded challenges, and evocative soundtrack, Inertial Drift seems to tick every box. The only downside, at least for me, was the utterly uninteresting cast of characters, and their kind of whiny or annoying dialogue. After a while, I was skipping every line I could, and I’d probably recommend you do the same. There is a reason most racing games don’t focus on the drivers, as almost every game that does just highlights how tiresome they are. Just focus on the driving, and a good time will be had.

Beyond the actual mechanics of play, the game also features split screen and online play, the former of which is an incredibly welcome addition, as too many games shy away from couch co-op these days - a well-deserved round of applause for that. The options menu is also good, offering a great feature which allows for the altering of each sound effect. I utilised this to silence the tyre squeal, which meant that my wife didn’t have to murder me…

Have you given this one a go? It’s nice to play a driving game with a new spin on things, and the fact that they found a new way to go with racing is quite impressive!

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month:

• Jamie B

Leave a comment

Share

Support TYPEDBYTOM!

As I browsed eBay for some idleness induced retail therapy, I felt that travelling the twenty or so miles, climbing a ladder, and digging through heaps of boxes to find and extract all the games that came with physical maps would be far too much bother (plus, as mentioned in part one, the dog needed watching). So, in a rather financially challenging mood, I decided that repurchasing a few particular favourites would be okay… if they were cheap… and as long as the map that came with them was in good condition. I had (still do, actually, but it’s in drafts purgatory) a plan to write something else about them you see, beyond the navigation post, and not being able to hold them in my hands posed a slight issue. Anyway, I ordered a couple and thought nothing of it, and as I waited, I browsed some more. I ordered a few more then, and waited again, and while I waited, I ordered some more. If you can detect a pattern, you’re right. Waits begat orders, and orders begat waits, and so on, until I had a secondary (and quite large) collection of games, all of which I was certain I’d never play, and only wanted for their damned maps…

If I had gotten around to doing the thing I wanted with them by now, I’d have at least spent the money for a reason (whether it would have been a good reason is up for debate, I suppose), but all that has happened was that we now have a massive portfolio folder wedged behind our sofa containing detailed geographical and cartographic data to a bunch of virtual words, most of which I’ll likely never visit again. I blame eBay. Enjoy.

As I mentioned in the first part, I find the maps of Dishonoured 2 to be of particularly high quality, perhaps on par with that of the Witcher series.

While the majority of maps included with games feature simple city layouts or traditionally or fantasy inspired landmasses, the above for Silent Hunter really stood out to me as somewhat unique. WW2 era military themed maps included with games are apparently something of an oddity, at least in my experience.

The Witcher series seems to have consistently provided excellent fantasy maps, and there are a few scattered herein. Their artistry only improving with each subsequent release, with the third entry coming with very decorative, almost renaissance era maps (such as the one above).

The above map for Assassin’s Creed, and the below for Trine both lean into the whimsical and characterful, with the AC map detailing its locations with illustrative interpretations and filling in its vast seas with drawings of sea creatures. Trine takes it a little further, appearing more in the vein of a storybook, with the cartographical ruleset thrown out, the features and characters of the locations taking the fore.

The above map from Mafia III, in a similar style to some of the GTA additional material, features in-world advertising, which really enhances the realism, making it more than a mere guide for navigating within the game, it becoming a physical manifestation of an in-universe prop.

As mentioned with the Mafia map, the Grand Theft Auto maps often include additional information which add to the realism, and this is done perfectly with the map for GTA IV, which gives the reader information on the city's points of interest. The same can be said for the image below. The map for Fallout 4 features a richly detailed list of locations, bringing to mind a real-world street map.

Some maps are stylised, and some are more realistic, the above for the Witcher 3 beautifully highlights the former, with a characterful and colourful design that is aesthetically perfect for the game world it represents. Metal Gear Solid 4’s map, shown below, goes the realistic route, and with its utilitarian design, it almost feels like a real map one might reference in the field.

Realism can come in different forms, and the above for Total War is a good example of a realist map, but set within a different time period, detailing Europe and the Americas accurately (although not to scale).

So, what do I do with all these maps now? I guess I’ll slide them back into their folder and not look at them for another couple of years… Perhaps I’ll just go and check eBay again in the meantime. Just once…

What are some videogame maps that you find particularly interesting? There are many more that I need to dig out from the attic at some point, and many more I’ve yet to see. If you have any favourites do let me know - or any map recommendations in general.

As well as admiring maps, I’ve always enjoyed creating them, and the process is something I find both therapeutic and incredibly useful when combined with writing fiction. The imagined world of my book had been constantly shifting over the years but is finally settling as I close in on the final editing stages of the book itself. I’ll perhaps share some of that here at some point.

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month:

• Jamie B

  TYPEDBYTOM 🖳 is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

  Leave a comment

  Share

Support TYPEDBYTOM!

A few summers ago I was asked to do a couple of weeks of dog/house sitting for the in-laws - I work in a school so am blessed with the summer off, and therefore had absolutely no excuse, this was compounded by my general lack doing things, so doubly no excuse - not that I wanted one, the dog is a good chum and an enjoyable hang - he made it slightly more difficult to play games though, so I had to resort to playing on an emulated World of Warcraft server, it being simple enough to play on my laptop while balancing a dog.

Anyway, during these two weeks of occasional walks, and lots of sitting, I ended up perusing eBay, as you do, and I inevitably ended up searching for old games. I wrote a post about navigating the virtual world at the time, and this got me looking up all the games that came with maps. These were always my absolute favourite additions to boxed games and was a slight obsession that began the day my dad brought the hefty box for Baldur's Gate home in the late 90s. Accompanying the many discs and user guide was the map – on one side, the Sword Coast, the other, a detailed render of the city after which the game was named. This enamoured us both, I think, as we got my mum to laminate the thing at work to preserve its goodness for all of eternity! It now resides within a folder (as the lamination made it, ironically, unable to be folded), and it sits safely tucked away in my parents’ attic, along with my entire collection of games, much to their annoyance, I’m sure.

My liking of maps was further fuelled by an old ordinance survey map we had of East Sussex, and a massive 1985 version of The Times Concise Atlas of the World, and flicking through these to see the local area or to visualise a trip aboard before heading off was fun, and just typing that sentence has added several decades to my age.

The Agile Rabbit book of Historical & Curious Maps, published in 2005, rekindled my love of maps when I found it a few years ago, and was partially responsible for my little obsessive hunt for more videogame maps, the book lingering in my mind for some time after.

Going back a little further into my childhood, and it was the maps that were included within some of my favourite fantasy books that furthered my intrigue, with the likes of Tolkien, Salvatore, Martin, and Herbert, each of whom included maps within their works. I always appreciated seeing the region within which the story took place laid out at the beginning, it serving as a great primer for the adventures that awaited.

Maps were more a part of life prior to the accessibility of smart phones too, and when working as a photographer, I often had to print out maps prior to my trips, as the locations were usually in obscure places - I was particularly late to the smart phone party, so the relevance of the paper map was probably in decline long before I realised. Those folded pieces of A4 served me well in those early years though.

Linking back to the earlier mentioned map of Brighton, for one of my university works, before settling on my long running [VR]Ography obsession, I used a map of the city as the starting point for a project that tracked local murders. I then went on to photograph the scenes of the crimes and display them with their associated map reference. I went on to develop a second project after this looking a fabricated crimes in the city, producing detailed dossiers which again centred around a map of the city (I might go into these project in some more detail in another post in the future).

Suffice to say, I like maps, but who doesn’t? Right? Right. Good. In the next part, I’ll look at some of the physical videogame maps I collected during that idle summer, and possibly lament in the meantime about how many more might be tucked away in my attic bound collection. One particular favourite example from a game is that of Dishonoured 2, which details the city of Karnaca and the greater Empire of the Isles (I wrote a bit more about Dishonoured here, if you’re interested). I didn’t get the special edition at the time, or subsequently, as it’s so bloody expensive, so this one comes from the artbook for the second game in the series.

What maps have struck you over the years? There are so many sources, both fictional and real. In the next part, we’ll take a look at some of the physical videogame maps I’ve collected. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss part two!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month:

• Jamie B

Leave a comment

Share

Support TYPEDBYTOM!

With the scene set, all that was left to do was get the footage saved. I did this using screen capture software, recording several versions of the piece, leaving the software running for an extended period in order to capture the scene to its fullest breadth, recording the shifting light and the changing weather. Once I had captured enough raw footage, it was time to work on editing and presenting, and although I had thought about creating a two-channel piece, I hadn’t yet considered exactly how that would look.

“While searching for a representation of truth, sometimes a manipulated image, sometimes a composite, something that is impossible to capture within the flattened rectangle of a photograph or a single lens may offer a closer experience to the one we’ve actually had.” – David Cotterrell.

Combining the real world and the digital 'other world’, for me, represented a journey in and of itself, and it was important for me to consider this when figuring out exactly how the work would be shown. As such, I decided that the two channels would be shown simultaneously, and possibly on the same screen, with the lift on the left, representing the descent as a means to another world, and the plane on the right, representing a means of travel to another world - each of a different world, one accessible by the other, at least visually, with the real us entering the lift to descend into the other ‘virtual’ world, a virtual world that represents a journey to a place of combative horror - a mover-day hell.

My inspiration behind my decision to display both clips at once came from precedents already set within the cinematic world. I initially considered cross-cutting, which is a technique is most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. With cross-cutting, the camera cuts away from one scene of action to another, which can suggest the simultaneity of the two (although this isn’t always the case). A prime example of this is within the 1909 film ‘A Corner in Wheat’ by D.W. Griffith. In the film, we see a juxtaposition between the activities of the rich businessmen at a lavish meal and poor waiting in line for overpriced bread.

I discarded this technique however, opting instead for the split screen method. Within film and video production, split screen is the visible division of the screen, traditionally in half, but also often in several simultaneous images. This technique ruptures the illusion that the screen's frame is a seamless view of reality and is useful for conveying a sense of real-time action. An example of split screen in cinema is the 1967 film ‘A Place to Stand’ which was produced and edited by the Canadian artist and filmmaker Christopher Chapman. For the film, he pioneered the concept of moving panes of moving images within the confines of a single screen and at times, there are up to fifteen separate images moving at once. This technique, which he dubbed 'multi-dynamic image technique has since been employed in many films.

Other notable examples of this technique are in Norman Jewison's 1968 film ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ as well as the 2002 television series ‘24’ created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran.

With these possibilities in mind, my first step in combining the feeds was the creation of a mask, which I made using Photoshop. This would allow me to properly place the footage within the screen without worrying about proportion errors. Once I had done this, I began a new project in Premiere Pro and after importing the mask, I brought in the footage and aligned on behind it, bringing the disparate works together for the first time.

With the two clips sat side by side I rendered out the footage to get a feel for how the two pieces worked together, and whether they could convey the concepts brought up by the Orpheus myth which inspired the project - the lift representing Orpheus’ descent into the underworld and the airport representing Eurydice and her entrapment within the purgatory of the underworld. Visually I felt that the pieces accomplished this, and I was happy with the placement, but there were issued with the audio that needed to be resolved next.

The sounds of the lift and the atmospheric noises from the airport scene clashed somewhat when played back together, and I needed to find a way to play both tracks simultaneously without them interfering with each other or creating an auditory mess that would put off a viewer. I experimented then with panning the audio from the lift video to the left to match it’s positioning on screen, and the same to the airport audio, panning it to the right. This worked to some degree, but when listening back, both tracks seemed to lose too much depth and detail, so I experimented further by cutting the audio into ten one-minute-long segments and alternating them. I then overlaid the opposite audio tracks back in with a reduced volume. This was in reference to the cross-cut editing style but rather than used visually, I applied it to the audio. This still wasn’t quite to my tastes, so I decided to put the audio on hold while I continued my research and focusing again on the visuals.

In the next part I’ll be looking at incorporating text into the footage and experimenting with other forms of presentation before moving ahead with the video. If you want to read more on this project, check out the [VR]OGRAPHY section.

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month:

• Jamie B

Leave a comment

Share

Opinions on this title are based on the demo, not the full release so it’s all subject to change.

There have been lots of games which have taken a more realistic approach to swordplay, Mount & Blade, For Hono(u)r, War of the Roses, Jedi Knight II & III, and there are probably loads of others that have come before and since, but it’s a well established mechanic, and, when implemented properly, it can be incredibly fun, albeit often frustrating.

Half Sword (developed by Half Sword Games and published by Game Seer Publishing) is the latest to attempt it, utilising the movement of the mouse to precisely replicate the movement of your weapon. The game, being a combat simulator focuses almost solely on the mechanics of fighting, pitting groups of combatants together in a 15^th century setting, fighting to the death in a small arena, either one on one, free for all, or in group melee.

Half Sword’s unique selling point, along with the mouse driven sword play is certainly its gore factor, featuring dismemberment, decapitation, and lots of blood spillage. Upon starting the demo, you’re given the choice of three violence options, depicted by some delightful theme appropriate illustrations. These are described as Gentle, Gruesome, and Grotesque. I’d heartily recommend the third option, and if you do, you’ll be treated to some of the bloodiest combat you’ll likely have seen in a very long time – scenes of which can be captured in all their glory with the incredibly robust in-game camera system, the inclusion of which is always very much appreciated!

The combat, as mentioned utilised precise mouse controls in order to swing your weapons with each hand being controlled independently. You can pick up items in your left or right hand with Q and E, and you are able to swing your weapon (or fists) by pressing the left or right mouse button in conjunction with the movement of your mouse, its direction relating to the direction you wish to hit. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, you really do feel engaged.

Picking up a halberd or long axe, for example, combined with the precise combat and Grotesque gore setting can result in excellent fun, like slamming your blade into a man’s face from afar, watching as the blood gushes all over the place and he falls limply to the ground. Brilliant. If you don’t quite finish your foe off, they’ll possibly get back to their feet, or writhe around on the floor begging for mercy - which you don’t have to give them. Mashing away with your fists on a downed foe is perfectly acceptable behaviour in this game - and quite amusing.

The sound effects are engrossing too, as is the excellent and evocative music, which really gets you in the zone to turn your fellow peasants into a bloody mush. Killing those of an equal social standing as yourself is key at first (in Gauntlet mode), in order to progress through the ranks. You start as the bottom of the barrel, and after proving your worth by punching your follows, or whacking them to death with a wooden stool or candelabra or whatever else you might be able to grab, you’ll face off against a tougher opponent. These guys are much better equipped, so figuring out what weapon to pick up is a must if you are to survive. If you do, you’ll unlock the next rank, and with it better starting equipment, working your way through the various armaments until you’re eventually fighting in a full suit of armour. If you die, you’ll get a chance to retain your rank by fighting in the abyss, which has you spawn within the dark foggy depths with nothing but your underwear, and from there it’s up to you to arm yourself using just the odd bits of equipment scattered about. Kill three wretched souls there and you can carry on, if not you, your lose your character and reset your rank (at least in the demo version).

The chaos of medieval battle is something we can only recreate with so much realism in the real world, what with historical reenactments between a load of dads at the local castle and the like – but Half Sword gets closer to the realities of the thing, feels authentically awful in the just the right way, as if someone swapped out all the safety weapons and given all the aforementioned dads a few pints before battle to get them riled up. Initially you feel as though your character has the gonads to get the job done, but after stabbing, slashing, kicking, and punching for a while, you slowly lose stamina, and it’s in this moment, when both you and your opponent are tired, that the game feels most realistic. Fighting with such weapons and in heavy armour would be absolutely knackering, and as your character slows down and starts panting and bleeding, you really feel the struggle. You can also grab your opponent or their weapon if your hands are empty, and tussling and wrestling in a breathless heap, throwing the odd punch or kicking them occasionally (while probably somewhat homoerotic) is quite reminiscent of fighting over a particularly good stick as a child. It’s stupid, silly, and fun, and it succeeds at all three spectacularly – made evident by the fact that you can stab your own character to death in the menu screen.

Overall, the demo for Half Sword shows real promise and displays how fun and robust the core of the game is. It’s a bit janky in places, but that’s what you get with physic based games – the impressive part is how real the combat feels, even down to how your axes and shields or whatever else can get locked together in the melee, how the armour works, and how reactive the poor wretches your fight are to the damage you inflict upon them. The full release will apparently have many more features than are available in the demo, which is good, but the core of the game has certainly been proven, and I highly recommend giving the demo a try – it’s fun, and that’s always the most important thing!

If you’re looking for more games to try out, you can see the demos covered on the blog by checking out the Steam Next Fest page - just click the link below:

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month:

• Jamie B

Leave a comment

Share

The answer to the question is both, but we’ll get a bit more into that in a bit. I downloaded a demo for Bright Memory some years ago… or maybe I purchased the initial tech demo version? I can’t recall now… but either way, I somehow ended up with the full version in my library. As with the majority of games I own, I take a very long time to get around to playing them - enter the saviour to my gaming, the Steam Deck, and as I browsed for something to play, I landed on this one. I recalled how impressive the demo looked, and I was curious to see how the full version of the game turned out, especially how it looked when played on the Deck.

The initial cutscenes display the game’s graphical prowess, but cutscenes aren’t always a trustworthy source for determining the true quality of a title. As the gameplay begins however, the visual fidelity is quickly confirmed. I was pretty blown away by every aspect of how the game looked and ran, I experienced no frame rate drops, the game loaded incredibly quickly, and the level of detail and the quality of the effects is beyond what one might expect for a game made by a lone developer (Zeng Xian Cheng with his personal development studio FYQD, published by Playism). It always astounds me the quality of some games that are released by single or very small development teams.

As impressive as it is, something worth keeping in mind is that it’s an incredibly short game, with a runtime of about 2 hours. What struck me most upon playing it however, other than its brevity, was how polished it is. The visual, as I have mentioned are near impeccable, but so are all the little details such as the heads up display, which is very minimal and unobtrusive. The big things are done right too, such as the gameplay mechanics, which is a much more impressive feat, its quick paced first person combat (ranged and melee) feeling punchy, fluid, and above all, fun. The shooting, while rather standard in its implementation (four guns, a pistol, an assault rifle, a shotgun, and a sniper rifle), is incredibly satisfying, with the sound effects and animations making the weapons feel impactful. Add to these the addition of alternate ammunition types and various upgrades earned during play, the shooting always feels fresh. The same can be said for the melee combat too, and while this is mostly restricted to your sword (save for occasional mission dependant situations), it feels equally robust, with a variety of upgrades available, and excellently rendered and quite visceral damage inflicted upon your enemies when used.

Despite the game having an incredibly short run time, there is a surprising amount of variety in the gameplay, with stealth sections, some situation dependent restrictions in armaments and abilities, as well as a rather unexpected vehicle section (although it’s pretty limited). Along with this, and the as mentioned, rather robust combat, navigation is also key, and manoeuvring about the environment is just as much a part of the game as anything else. Wall running, double jumping, grappling, and dodging. All of these combine to give Shelia (the protagonist) a great feeling of agility, and when her athleticism is used in conjunction with the combat it adds a great amount of excitement, bringing the gameplay up a notch.

As I’ve said, the game looks incredible, with a very impressive the level of detail within the environments you explore. The level designs themselves, which consist of recognisable suburban areas intermixed with gravity defying floating islands, are equally impressive, with fun platforming intermixed. The enemy designs are very good too, and although there isn’t a massive variety to the majority of the foes you’ll encounter. There is some special consideration with the bosses however, most of which look look very cool (albeit incredibly over the top - which is intentional and appreciated).

Shelia is also well designed, and it’s always nice to see a strong female lead in a game. What undermines this slightly however is how overly sexualised she is, or rather sometimes is. Stylistic choices are a matter of preference, of course, and as a default, she is wearing remarkably utilitarian clothing. Several questionable camera angles raise eyebrows early on however, and suggest that perhaps her arse is the main character - and it feels as though these choices were likely made to work in conjunction with some of the skimpier outfit options. Luckily, this isn’t too egregious for the most part, and as you play through the game in first person, the actual gameplay isn’t affected too much, but the story changes when it comes to the customisation options, specifically the aforementioned outfits - those included in the game and those available as downloadable content. It reminds me of the questionable choices in Metal Gear Solid V with the character Quiet. In that game, you could give the character a reasonable and appropriate outfit for the situation - military fatigues or whatever, but you could also pick outfits a little…. less appropriate to the deserts of Afghanistan and Angola. Some of the outfits available in Bright Memory seem just as grimy and out of place. Perhaps it’s a cultural difference, or even if it’s just a matter of taste, it’s ultimately down to the creator to make these choices, but it just feels somewhat at odds with the idea of a game based around a capable female lead. I’m on shaky around here having any sort of opinion, and I suppose the fact that the choice is there is good, and the packs do alter the visual style of the weapons too, so that’s something I suppose, but it just seems a bit tacky to me. If you like virtual tits and arses clad in minute outfits, you’ve got the option, but if you’re here for the gameplay, I’d stick with the default outfit, as it suits the character and the style of the game far better.

If you ignore the downloadable content, the base game is a very fun and well made (albeit shot) first person shooter. It has roots in the likes of Shadow Warrior, and perhaps a little bit of Titanfall too for good measure, and that alone is worth checking it out for. There is a lot of potential with this game, and it’s nice to see someone creating something with the kind of production values you might expect from a big development house (who ironically often include questionable DLC, so they’re perhaps closer to the big dogs than they might realise). For a lone developer this is about as good a demonstration of skill as you could hope for - perhaps one day a full length campaign in the Bright Memory universe will come to fruition…

Have you played this one? If so, what did you think? And what do you think about cosmetic DLC? I think it’s probably fine for the most part, but I prefer it when a little bit of taste is used.

As always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so by subscribing and sharing!

Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month:

• Jamie B

Leave a comment

Share