MissJackson
Bio
Nothing here!
Badges
Gamer
Played 250+ games
N00b
Played 100+ games
Favorite Games
438
Total Games Played
001
Played in 2024
247
Games Backloggd
Recently Played See More
Recently Reviewed See More
This review contains spoilers
[Game received for free]
Uhhhhhhh, yeahhh…
I’ve been on a retro shooter kick for a few years. Despite that I’ve barely touched Doom, and have only played Doom 2016 and Doom RPG. I’d heard Doom 64 is a black sheep, but I was still looking forward to it.
It’s unfortunate that Doom 64 left me feeling so disappointed. Especially when, based on other reviews, there’s still some serious love for it. I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum, and I know it’s a 26-year-old game that released within a year of the N64’s launch, so I’ll do a rapidfire what I did/not like:
- It feels like half of the enemies are Barons. Even 2-3 of them in an obtuse room doesn’t make for a compelling encounter.
- I did play on normal, but all of the encounters besides the final boss “fuck it, here’s everything” arena were uncompelling. And uncompelling in a way that more enemy damage/health wouldn’t solve.
- Music fluctuates between very short loops and genuinely creepy ambiance. I don’t know if it’s just the Nightdive re-release, but some of the soundtracks have audio of moans and screaming. This was shocking, but also highlighted the disparity.
- The plasma gun has the same 90’s electricity sound on a 2 second loop. This never stops.
- Who did this to you, super shotgun? Who stole your Doom 2 animation and hurt you?
- Final boss is prohibitively challenging - unless you took the time rubbing your face on every wall to find the upgrades to theChronoscepter Unmaker. Then it’s a cakewalk.
Glad this was only a weekend romp, with ~6 hours for the main story (I did not play the Lost Levels). I can’t see any reason to recommend Doom 64 when the genre is hilariously stuffed with high quality, weird, or experimental retro shooters.
Uhhhhhhh, yeahhh…
I’ve been on a retro shooter kick for a few years. Despite that I’ve barely touched Doom, and have only played Doom 2016 and Doom RPG. I’d heard Doom 64 is a black sheep, but I was still looking forward to it.
It’s unfortunate that Doom 64 left me feeling so disappointed. Especially when, based on other reviews, there’s still some serious love for it. I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum, and I know it’s a 26-year-old game that released within a year of the N64’s launch, so I’ll do a rapidfire what I did/not like:
- It feels like half of the enemies are Barons. Even 2-3 of them in an obtuse room doesn’t make for a compelling encounter.
- I did play on normal, but all of the encounters besides the final boss “fuck it, here’s everything” arena were uncompelling. And uncompelling in a way that more enemy damage/health wouldn’t solve.
- Music fluctuates between very short loops and genuinely creepy ambiance. I don’t know if it’s just the Nightdive re-release, but some of the soundtracks have audio of moans and screaming. This was shocking, but also highlighted the disparity.
- The plasma gun has the same 90’s electricity sound on a 2 second loop. This never stops.
- Who did this to you, super shotgun? Who stole your Doom 2 animation and hurt you?
- Final boss is prohibitively challenging - unless you took the time rubbing your face on every wall to find the upgrades to the
Glad this was only a weekend romp, with ~6 hours for the main story (I did not play the Lost Levels). I can’t see any reason to recommend Doom 64 when the genre is hilariously stuffed with high quality, weird, or experimental retro shooters.
[FD: I got Sludge Life for free]
The developers of Sludge Life describe it as a “vandalism-and-photography sim”.
At the time of writing, the top Steam review is “Mirror’s Edge on drugs” and that matches the vibe pretty well.
I’d add, “Umurangi Generation if it was a self-produced, self-aware, anti-cap album handed out for free by crustpunks”.
You explore an island made of corporate greed and literal sludge. There’s a workers' strike against the island’s sole company that produces cigarettes, burgers, and soda.
Traverse the buildings. Fall in the sludge. Talk to weirdos. Take some photos. Find sick spots to tag.
The traversal can get cumbersome at times. And the VHS filter can get a little nauseating (intentional?). But the humor hits a strong and weird stride, though it’s occasionally gross. It’s brought together with a relaxing/inspiring soundtrack by Doseone (@doseone, Heavy Bullets, Enter the Gungeon) that puts a moody wrapper on the 1 - 2 hour experience. Definitely check out the full OST for some background jams.
Also the escape menu is a laptop (diegetic, complete with pop-ups) that’s chucked at the ground when the menu is closed.
It’s the little things.
The developers of Sludge Life describe it as a “vandalism-and-photography sim”.
At the time of writing, the top Steam review is “Mirror’s Edge on drugs” and that matches the vibe pretty well.
I’d add, “Umurangi Generation if it was a self-produced, self-aware, anti-cap album handed out for free by crustpunks”.
You explore an island made of corporate greed and literal sludge. There’s a workers' strike against the island’s sole company that produces cigarettes, burgers, and soda.
Traverse the buildings. Fall in the sludge. Talk to weirdos. Take some photos. Find sick spots to tag.
The traversal can get cumbersome at times. And the VHS filter can get a little nauseating (intentional?). But the humor hits a strong and weird stride, though it’s occasionally gross. It’s brought together with a relaxing/inspiring soundtrack by Doseone (@doseone, Heavy Bullets, Enter the Gungeon) that puts a moody wrapper on the 1 - 2 hour experience. Definitely check out the full OST for some background jams.
Also the escape menu is a laptop (diegetic, complete with pop-ups) that’s chucked at the ground when the menu is closed.
It’s the little things.