tvwolfsnake
It is a crime that this game has been delisted and it is a further crime that its biggest champion in the relisting fight is apparently Nick Robinson.
Fuck that creep, but you do absolutely deserve to be able to play this absolutely bonkers game that solved a budget problem by inventing an entirely new game mechanic and an off-the-wall literal coma dream premise to justify it.
Fuck that creep, but you do absolutely deserve to be able to play this absolutely bonkers game that solved a budget problem by inventing an entirely new game mechanic and an off-the-wall literal coma dream premise to justify it.
2008
I am fully aware how ridiculous this may sound, but I am being 100% serious when I tell you that this game's cutscenes, seemingly driven mostly by "hm, what would look the coolest here?", are better—and more thoughtfully—shot and edited than most other games I've played.
"But what about [prestige game]" especially better than that.
Despite the average shot length being too short for my taste, the cutscene where the Ronin attempt to ambush Johnny Gat and the player was when I realized "oh, someone DIRECTED this." Beyond the flashier stuff like the derivative-but-still-great katana flower-cutting discretion shot, there's a real sense of rhythm to the scene and thoughtfulness to the blocking (to say nothing of the physical comedy) that persists across all the other story cutscenes, once I started paying attention.
(Of particular note is the long take late in the Brotherhood arc, which I bring up not because long takes are inherently good or something—they're frequently misused pretentiously by people who don't understand what they're for—but because it's specifically there to create a vulnerable, scrambling feeling that underlines both the larger theme of the arc of powerful people feeling powerless and lashing out in petty destructive ways, and the immediate theme of Maero Is Bigger And Stronger Than Me Oh No.)
The fact that these cutscenes come out of an era in gaming that was still pretty dominated by "just vaguely point the camera at the action" is nuts.
Oh also the rest of the game's alright. It's extremely 2008 in good and bad ways. It's better than the HD GTAs by a country mile. It's hard for me not to compare its controls negatively to its sequel, since I played it first—jumping on cars to get in them without the animation is a salve, but doesn't compare to jumping directly into the driver's seat in SRTT—but obviously the tradeoff is that Stilwater is a better sandbox than Steelport.
(p.s. the female player character is sorta-canonically trans, which is fun)
"But what about [prestige game]" especially better than that.
Despite the average shot length being too short for my taste, the cutscene where the Ronin attempt to ambush Johnny Gat and the player was when I realized "oh, someone DIRECTED this." Beyond the flashier stuff like the derivative-but-still-great katana flower-cutting discretion shot, there's a real sense of rhythm to the scene and thoughtfulness to the blocking (to say nothing of the physical comedy) that persists across all the other story cutscenes, once I started paying attention.
(Of particular note is the long take late in the Brotherhood arc, which I bring up not because long takes are inherently good or something—they're frequently misused pretentiously by people who don't understand what they're for—but because it's specifically there to create a vulnerable, scrambling feeling that underlines both the larger theme of the arc of powerful people feeling powerless and lashing out in petty destructive ways, and the immediate theme of Maero Is Bigger And Stronger Than Me Oh No.)
The fact that these cutscenes come out of an era in gaming that was still pretty dominated by "just vaguely point the camera at the action" is nuts.
Oh also the rest of the game's alright. It's extremely 2008 in good and bad ways. It's better than the HD GTAs by a country mile. It's hard for me not to compare its controls negatively to its sequel, since I played it first—jumping on cars to get in them without the animation is a salve, but doesn't compare to jumping directly into the driver's seat in SRTT—but obviously the tradeoff is that Stilwater is a better sandbox than Steelport.
(p.s. the female player character is sorta-canonically trans, which is fun)
2008
You go to a comedy open mic. A comedian gets up to the mic and deadpans an amazing joke. The comedian then immediately sits down.
Was that a great stand-up set?
This is a metaphor for Gravity Bone.
Was that a great stand-up set?
This is a metaphor for Gravity Bone.
2017
Unfortunately, this game does not solve the long-running How To End An Adventure Game puzzle.
2012
It really weirds me out that a lot of people who feel the need to defend this game on "it's self-critical" grounds (trust me: you don't gotta) will in the same breath say they hated the hospital level, which to me is a perfect formal expression of the idea of molding yourself into a machine for killing to the point where you are unable to function properly in its absence.
I get if you didn't enjoy it, but like...come on.
I get if you didn't enjoy it, but like...come on.
I really do not understand why almost nobody followed Chung's lead on...basically everything he was doing. I have played very few games that evoked an emotional reaction quite like the smash cut to title in this one does.
Sure wish I could play this without feeling like families at my local R1 are giving me disapproving looks for the animated half-naked Rasis on the menus, and I can't turn around and be like "hey, I know, I'm not a fan either," because in some ways that'd be even weirder—
Well, now I wish I even had that problem, since the pandemic made it unsafe to go to the arcade at all.
Song navigation was better in Heavenly Haven, but whatever. It's still Sound Voltex. The songlist is great and the knob gimmick is too, especially on a well-maintained machine. The best kind of sensory overload.
Well, now I wish I even had that problem, since the pandemic made it unsafe to go to the arcade at all.
Song navigation was better in Heavenly Haven, but whatever. It's still Sound Voltex. The songlist is great and the knob gimmick is too, especially on a well-maintained machine. The best kind of sensory overload.
2012
You might argue that the game's argument is flawed, even fundamentally, but I don't think it really matters if the point it's making is airtight, because the goal is emotional affect, not intellectual rigidity.
2016
I like this game but an "influenced by" that has only a received, secondhand understanding of the influence bugs me. This is doubly true with Twin Peaks, a particularly common victim of this in the 10s.
...In Which Sam Lake Makes A Serious Case For Video Games As A Metaform, And Also For Sequels As Metatext
this game would be a lot better if the announcer didn't call you a "fella" every few minutes
Arguably the perfect touchscreen rhythm game, abandoned way too soon by Capcom.
Skydiving into a rooftop pool party with Kanye West's Power blasting: That's Videogames!
Ashamed to say I played this game. I would be ashamed to say I liked it, but the reason I liked it is because I was in middle school and did not yet grasp why it was creepy.
Glad Cadre disowned it.
Glad Cadre disowned it.
2012
The much-ballyhooed memory inventory is an interesting innovation in the adventure game genre, even if it brings in its own problems with non-obvious interactions, and I admire the story for some of the paths it goes down—particularly with regards to ethics in scientific research—even if the endings undercut that some.
(Also, the [I don't want to put a spoiler warning on this review] is kind of orientalist, despite the game going out of its way to mock orientalism. There's similar "hmm" moments with Anna's childhood. In general, the game's a mixed bag.)
There's a sort of "former condescending nerd, reformed" feeling to a lot of the puzzles, which is definitely on-theme; it's both mildly obnoxious and really engaging, presenting puzzles where the obvious adventure gamey solution fails because the way the actual system you're engaging with works is a little less simplified than it normally would be. The blueprint puzzle made me roll my eyes a little in this regard, but the lab section and the magnet-based take on a wolf, goat, and cabbage-style problem were particular highlights that made me feel more clever for solving them than most adventure game puzzles do.
It's a good, solid game, but you can see the potential for a great one in there.
(Also, the [I don't want to put a spoiler warning on this review] is kind of orientalist, despite the game going out of its way to mock orientalism. There's similar "hmm" moments with Anna's childhood. In general, the game's a mixed bag.)
There's a sort of "former condescending nerd, reformed" feeling to a lot of the puzzles, which is definitely on-theme; it's both mildly obnoxious and really engaging, presenting puzzles where the obvious adventure gamey solution fails because the way the actual system you're engaging with works is a little less simplified than it normally would be. The blueprint puzzle made me roll my eyes a little in this regard, but the lab section and the magnet-based take on a wolf, goat, and cabbage-style problem were particular highlights that made me feel more clever for solving them than most adventure game puzzles do.
It's a good, solid game, but you can see the potential for a great one in there.