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Trademark Banter
0:00:36 Wiper Sniper and Wide Stances
0:04:16 Internet Archive
0:05:34 Blinx is to Knack as...
0:10:39 Panducto
0:11:42 Narnia
0:16:28 A Trip back to 2003
0:25:19 Bad Boys: Miami Takedown
First Impressions - Tom
0:29:38 Carrion from Devolver for Switch, XB, PC
Final Impressions - Tom
0:38:26 Minecraft Dungeons
Updated Final Impressions - Tom
0:41:50 Sky: Children of Light
Final Impressions - Tom
0:44:10 Beat Cop
First Impressions
0:46:52 Pathologic 2
Trademark Banter
0:52:26 Steamlink
Tom Towers Reacts... To The News
0:55:50 Gabe Newell & Kim Dotcom
1:04:10 Halo Infinite
Final Impressions - Tom
1:06:16 Metro Exodus
Transcript
Phil: Hello, and welcome to Episode 128 of The Game Under Podcast.
Phil: I'm your co-host, Mr.Phil Fogg.
Phil: I'm joined as always by Mr.
Phil: Tom Towers.
Phil: Tom, how are you doing?
Tom: Mr.
Tom: Tom Towers.
Phil: Mr.Tom Towers.
Tom: It is true that I do have multiple personalities, but only one on the show.
Phil: Yes, that's right.
Phil: And we should point out again for our listeners that your home state is going through a COVID revival.
Phil: So we are recording this from our home studios.
Phil: I'm not sure if you can hear anything that's going on outside.
Phil: I'm hearing something on your side though.
Phil: Is it?
Phil: What is that?
Tom: That is a whipper snipper.
Phil: A whipper snipper.
Tom: Yes.
Phil: Okay.
Tom: Or snapper as it may also be known as.
Phil: Well, I don't think a whipper snapper.
Phil: Okay, so we've got to explain for our North American listeners that what Tom is referring to is a weed whacker.
Tom: Yes, I have heard that term as well.
Phil: Which I think is better, weed whacker.
Phil: I saw an ad at the mall when I was waiting near the men's restroom for no particular reason.
00:01:13.340 --> 00:01:16.280
Phil: That was for a local gardener that advertised his services.
00:01:16.340 --> 00:01:20.340
Phil: One of the services he provided was a whipper sniper.
00:01:21.360 --> 00:01:32.980
Phil: He was a landscape artist and one of the services, because he didn't know how to spell, it just said right there, mowing, tree trimming, whipper sniper.
00:01:34.320 --> 00:01:38.060
Tom: Did this result in him getting some interesting job requests?
00:01:39.880 --> 00:01:44.360
Phil: I just saw the little card, you know those little cards they put up at the grocery stores and such.
00:01:44.380 --> 00:01:51.860
Tom: While we're on the topic of you visiting, hanging around men's toilets, what color handkerchief did you have in your pocket?
00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:56.080
Phil: Well, I didn't have a wide stance.
00:01:56.080 --> 00:01:57.800
Phil: I don't know if you remember that controversy.
00:01:57.820 --> 00:02:15.040
Phil: Now there was a guy, I think he was a member of the House of Representatives or possibly even a senator in the US that was arrested for soliciting a prostitute at a airport.
00:02:15.420 --> 00:02:24.480
Phil: And apparently the thing was you'd go into the airport and you'd establish a wide stance when you sat on the portal, if that's what it's called.
00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:26.400
Phil: Is that what it's called?
00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:26.860
Phil: Portal?
00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:28.220
Phil: Toilet?
00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:30.940
Phil: Toilet, yes.
00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:33.380
Phil: The porcelain turtle.
00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:36.340
Phil: The porcelain throne.
00:02:36.820 --> 00:02:37.920
Phil: Yes, porcelain throne.
00:02:38.180 --> 00:02:50.440
Phil: And basically at that airport, apparently, and most airports, I don't know, apparently if you put your both legs out so your toes are in the other stall, that's an indicator that you're an interested party.
00:02:51.460 --> 00:02:54.780
Phil: And he got, yeah, he was like this conservative politician.
00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:57.600
Phil: He got busted for solicitation.
00:02:57.620 --> 00:03:01.480
Phil: I think that's how it works, maybe the other way around, but yeah.
00:03:01.920 --> 00:03:03.260
Phil: So what's this handkerchief thing?
00:03:03.740 --> 00:03:09.680
Tom: I believe that handkerchiefs are meant to signal similar information as well.
00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:10.480
Phil: Okay.
00:03:10.700 --> 00:03:11.180
Phil: All right.
00:03:11.200 --> 00:03:13.040
Phil: So I mean, remember George Michael?
00:03:13.040 --> 00:03:15.440
Phil: He long did a part of George Michael.
00:03:15.740 --> 00:03:18.080
Phil: He got busted for such a thing, didn't he?
00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:27.400
Tom: I have no idea, but not Prince, what the hell is the name of the government?
00:03:27.640 --> 00:03:28.440
Phil: Michael Jackson?
00:03:28.460 --> 00:03:29.360
Tom: Not Michael Jackson.
00:03:29.600 --> 00:03:30.460
Phil: Bono?
00:03:30.480 --> 00:03:35.020
Tom: Michael Jackson failed to get busted for related activities.
00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:36.940
Phil: Despite how hard he tried.
00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:37.260
Tom: Yes.
00:03:38.980 --> 00:03:42.920
Phil: And we should point out here that it's impossible to slander a dead person.
00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:49.540
Tom: We also have the world famous pedophile's precedent as well.
00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.280
Tom: So we can happily now accuse anyone we want of being a pedophile.
00:03:54.720 --> 00:03:55.540
Phil: He's not dead.
00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:00.740
Phil: And obviously you're not listening to the show because I edited it out the last time you said it.
00:04:00.780 --> 00:04:03.260
Phil: And I will edit it out again because I don't want to get sued.
00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:04.080
Phil: Because he's not dead.
00:04:04.660 --> 00:04:04.960
Phil: Yet.
00:04:05.600 --> 00:04:08.020
Tom: Well, it would be him that would have to sue us.
00:04:08.640 --> 00:04:14.980
Tom: And he has set as a court president that we can call him a pedophile without any issue.
00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:19.860
Phil: I've got to say, you sent me a link to something on the Internet Archive.
00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:22.100
Phil: I hadn't been on the Internet Archive for some years.
00:04:22.780 --> 00:04:25.300
Phil: And I'm blown away.
00:04:25.320 --> 00:04:26.240
Phil: It's like really good.
00:04:26.260 --> 00:04:30.040
Phil: Like the books, you know, they flip just like you said, the pages flip and stuff like that.
00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:36.940
Phil: And then I was like, oh, I should go to philfog.com because that used to be a website I had and see it.
00:04:36.960 --> 00:04:38.860
Phil: And you know, I was looking at, that's pretty cool.
00:04:38.880 --> 00:04:40.080
Phil: You know, they've got all that.
00:04:40.100 --> 00:04:40.980
Phil: I forgot doing that.
00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:41.520
Phil: That's cool.
00:04:42.060 --> 00:04:49.280
Phil: And then I went, oh, I wonder what gameunder.net is like, you know, so I put in gameunder.net and I went back to like 2013 or something like that.
00:04:49.940 --> 00:04:53.860
Phil: And which is the official podcast of The Game Under Podcast, gameunder.net.
00:04:54.500 --> 00:04:58.280
Phil: And I was clicking through, like looking at old posts that we'd put up.
00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:04.400
Phil: And I was like, after about because it's so slow to load, but after about five minutes, I was like, this is idiotic.
00:05:04.460 --> 00:05:06.540
Phil: Everything we've ever posted is still on our...
00:05:07.380 --> 00:05:12.360
Tom: The only difference would be, I believe the site has had one facelift over the years.
00:05:12.400 --> 00:05:14.880
Phil: One very minor facelift.
00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:17.180
Phil: Do you think it needs another facelift?
00:05:17.200 --> 00:05:18.540
Phil: Are you happy with how it is right now?
00:05:18.960 --> 00:05:27.560
Tom: Well, I mean, it could potentially improve visually, but the amount of effort required compared to the gains may be questionable.
00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:34.120
Phil: Yeah, particularly when we're podcasting at the rate we do, it's kind of hard to get in front of it.
00:05:34.140 --> 00:05:42.400
Phil: But I do want to offer a logic puzzle to you, so you're going to need to get a pencil out and write this down, because this occurred to me yesterday as I was driving around.
00:05:42.420 --> 00:05:46.100
Phil: A logic puzzle occurred to me and I can't figure out an answer to it.
00:05:46.760 --> 00:05:47.180
Phil: Okay.
00:05:47.580 --> 00:05:51.400
Phil: So you're familiar with Blinx, the time sweeper, the Xbox game.
00:05:51.420 --> 00:05:52.000
Tom: Yes, I am.
00:05:52.580 --> 00:05:54.340
Phil: And the sequel, Blinx 2.
00:05:56.020 --> 00:05:57.140
Phil: And you're familiar with NAC?
00:05:58.100 --> 00:05:59.420
Tom: Yes, I think so.
00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:02.480
Phil: Yeah, the Mark Cerny PlayStation 4 launch game.
00:06:02.500 --> 00:06:03.640
Tom: Did that actually come out?
00:06:04.380 --> 00:06:04.780
Phil: Oh, yeah.
00:06:05.900 --> 00:06:09.300
Phil: And I believe it was published by Sony Japan.
00:06:09.320 --> 00:06:22.920
Phil: So they're both Japanese games that were sold to promote the technology of the console, and both released early in the cycle, and both were not well received, either commercially or editorially, and both got a sequel.
00:06:23.140 --> 00:06:24.360
Phil: So here's the logic puzzle.
00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:30.160
Phil: You write it down because by, I'm not going to put you on the spot right now, but by the end of the show, you'll come up with an answer to it.
00:06:30.980 --> 00:06:36.360
Phil: Blinx is to knack as blank is to blank.
00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:39.440
Tom: I'm not, is that a logical puzzle?
00:06:39.700 --> 00:06:41.060
Tom: What is blank and blank?
00:06:41.080 --> 00:06:42.340
Phil: Okay, all right, all right.
00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:44.000
Tom: That sounds like you're censoring something.
00:06:44.520 --> 00:06:47.060
Phil: No, I don't know the answer.
00:06:47.080 --> 00:06:47.600
Phil: I'm not censoring.
00:06:47.840 --> 00:06:50.740
Phil: So, Blinx is to knack as Tekken is to.
00:06:53.120 --> 00:07:01.720
Tom: So, you want a comparison, an analogy of Blinx and knack, compared to something else.
00:07:02.220 --> 00:07:03.800
Phil: Yeah, and I think actually I just solved it.
00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:06.100
Phil: But, because I put myself on the spot.
00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:07.620
Phil: But you can come up with another one.
00:07:07.640 --> 00:07:12.660
Tom: So, what your logic puzzle really is actually, you're asking what are these two things similar to?
00:07:13.340 --> 00:07:14.480
Phil: Yeah, well, what is Blinx?
00:07:14.580 --> 00:07:16.020
Phil: So, Blinx came first.
00:07:16.040 --> 00:07:16.340
Phil: Yep.
00:07:16.640 --> 00:07:18.640
Phil: So, yeah, knack followed.
00:07:19.220 --> 00:07:21.240
Phil: So, then this other thing happened.
00:07:21.460 --> 00:07:23.380
Phil: I guess, I guess it'd be kind of, oh.
00:07:23.400 --> 00:07:24.940
Tom: Well, I've got an answer for you.
00:07:25.400 --> 00:07:26.840
Phil: Well, I've got an answer too.
00:07:26.900 --> 00:07:44.660
Tom: I'm not sure I can remember the names, but Proceeding the Matrix were two very similar films that actually had quite a lot of hype at the time, but have since been forgotten about and also were not very well received at the time.
00:07:44.820 --> 00:07:53.540
Tom: One was actually set in a video game world and unfortunately, I don't remember the names of either of the films, but-
00:07:53.820 --> 00:07:54.260
Phil: Tron?
00:07:54.440 --> 00:07:55.940
Tom: Not Tron, no, that was early.
00:07:55.960 --> 00:08:00.420
Tom: That was, these literally came out a year before The Matrix.
00:08:01.280 --> 00:08:03.220
Tom: So they were right at the same time.
00:08:03.400 --> 00:08:04.700
Phil: Wreck-It Ralph, Pixels?
00:08:04.700 --> 00:08:05.040
Tom: No.
00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:06.740
Phil: The Wizard?
00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:07.100
Tom: No.
00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:10.880
Tom: I think one of them was The 13th Floor, possibly.
00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:13.920
Phil: Yeah.
00:08:13.940 --> 00:08:13.940
Phil: Yeah.
00:08:14.400 --> 00:08:15.420
Tom: So there's my answer.
00:08:16.580 --> 00:08:22.920
Phil: So wait, Blinx is to NACC as The 13th Floor, I think is my answer is to The Matrix?
00:08:23.940 --> 00:08:24.380
Tom: No, no, no.
00:08:24.380 --> 00:08:28.920
Tom: The Matrix in this analogy would be something like Super Mario Galaxy.
00:08:33.520 --> 00:08:35.440
Phil: Maybe you don't understand.
00:08:35.920 --> 00:08:41.020
Phil: Blinx is to NACC as The Matrix is to Super Mario Galaxy.
00:08:41.040 --> 00:08:41.540
Tom: No, no, no.
00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:47.360
Tom: These two films, I can't remember the title of the other of these two films.
00:08:47.800 --> 00:08:55.120
Tom: So it's a 34 and another Matrix-like film from 1999 or 1998.
00:08:57.640 --> 00:09:21.120
Tom: Two somewhat hyped films that were encapsulating a certain cultural moment that were followed by The Matrix, which solidified this as worth remembering while those two were completely forgotten about, other than to bring up as failures preceding The Matrix.
00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:23.600
Tom: That's my analogy.
00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:30.820
Tom: So those two films are like Blinx and Nack preceding Super Mario Galaxy.
00:09:32.180 --> 00:09:33.000
Phil: That is very good.
00:09:33.020 --> 00:09:37.540
Phil: My solution that I just came up with, Blinx is to Nack as Tekken is to Dead or Alive.
00:09:38.980 --> 00:09:45.320
Phil: The theory being that Tekken was a ground breaking PlayStation launch game.
00:09:46.140 --> 00:09:52.380
Phil: And Dead or Alive was a very popular quote, ground breaking game for the Xbox when it came out.
00:09:52.520 --> 00:09:54.060
Phil: Or maybe the Xbox 360.
00:09:54.580 --> 00:09:55.680
Phil: Yeah, well one of those.
00:09:55.700 --> 00:10:00.940
Tom: The only problem with that would be that Tekken actually was ground breaking.
00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:09.380
Phil: Yeah, but the other one, you know, women, and Zack, Zack and his island.
00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:11.420
Tom: And Blinx has a cat.
00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:15.300
Phil: Speaking of movies on games, I was thinking about this the other day.
00:10:15.700 --> 00:10:20.060
Phil: Like, you know, you're always crying on about how movies are superior to video games.
00:10:21.900 --> 00:10:22.280
Tom: Am I?
00:10:22.300 --> 00:10:24.360
Phil: I was going to say, are you?
00:10:24.380 --> 00:10:29.080
Tom: And just before we move on from The Matrix and those films.
00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:29.780
Tom: Yeah, please.
00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.880
Tom: Yes, long time listen of the shows.
00:10:33.900 --> 00:10:37.980
Tom: Who knows if this has ever actually come up, but the rapper LP.
00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:41.500
Tom: I am a big fan of.
00:10:42.020 --> 00:10:50.640
Tom: He, during the quarantine in New York, started with his Comedienne Wife, one of the worst podcasts ever made.
00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:57.640
Tom: Even by the standards of podcasts where people watch shows or films, it is awful.
00:10:57.880 --> 00:11:03.700
Tom: And I've never listened to such a podcast that has been in any way bearable.
00:11:04.420 --> 00:11:20.680
Tom: But one of the episodes was The Matrix, and I highly recommend the amazing stoner philosophy introduction about The Matrix and American society and propaganda.
00:11:20.880 --> 00:11:23.840
Tom: And then as soon as that's finished and they start watching the film, stop listening.
00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:26.280
Phil: So he's a longtime listener of this show?
00:11:26.580 --> 00:11:28.980
Tom: No, I'm a longtime listener of his music.
00:11:29.700 --> 00:11:30.440
Phil: Oh, okay.
00:11:30.460 --> 00:11:30.840
Phil: I'm sorry.
00:11:30.860 --> 00:11:32.800
Phil: I thought he was a longtime listener of our podcast.
00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:33.160
Phil: Okay.
00:11:33.180 --> 00:11:34.040
Phil: So what's it called?
00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:38.680
Tom: I think it's called the Panducto-Quarrin Cast.
00:11:39.760 --> 00:11:40.880
Phil: That's easy to find.
00:11:41.620 --> 00:11:42.440
Phil: Panducto.
00:11:42.520 --> 00:11:42.940
Phil: Okay.
00:11:44.300 --> 00:11:46.980
Phil: Speaking of podcasts, CS.
00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:47.360
Phil: Lewis.
00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:49.000
Phil: I don't know if you know what CS.
00:11:49.020 --> 00:11:50.840
Phil: Lewis is or whatever.
00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:52.780
Tom: Yes, I believe he is an author.
00:11:53.460 --> 00:11:53.700
Phil: Yep.
00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:55.820
Tom: A very obscure, unknown author.
00:11:56.300 --> 00:11:56.580
Phil: Yeah.
00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:58.360
Phil: Do you know what CS stands for?
00:11:58.380 --> 00:11:59.080
Phil: You probably don't.
00:11:59.540 --> 00:12:02.220
Tom: I do, but I cannot recall what it stands for now.
00:12:02.640 --> 00:12:04.580
Tom: Christian Sectarian.
00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:10.320
Phil: The funny thing, that's a good guess, but the funny thing is his father, I don't know if you know this was a Macc...
00:12:12.500 --> 00:12:13.920
Phil: That's a good one, but I don't think he was Catholic.
00:12:15.140 --> 00:12:16.800
Tom: Didn't he convert to Catholicism?
00:12:16.820 --> 00:12:17.640
Tom: I'm pretty sure he did.
00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:21.740
Phil: Well, we'll have to find out in one of the Chronicles of Narnia.
00:12:23.260 --> 00:12:43.580
Phil: Actually, his father was a mechanic, and they had already had a girl, they were expecting a girl, and they had a name set up for him, but they didn't actually have a name when he was born, so they actually called him Crankshaft Lewis, and that's what the CS stands for.
00:12:44.060 --> 00:12:52.820
Phil: I don't know that a lot of people know that, but yeah, Crankshaft is actually his name, because his dad was a mechanic, and that's all he could come up with.
00:12:53.900 --> 00:12:55.860
Tom: Either that or Clive Staples.
00:12:57.040 --> 00:12:58.600
Phil: Clive Staples, that's a good name.
00:12:59.740 --> 00:13:06.420
Phil: Anyway, I've been reading, and I know you're going to throw up all over me, just brawl with this please.
00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:14.220
Phil: I started reading The Chronicles of Narnia, starting with the prequel book and going through, so I'm reading them.
00:13:15.160 --> 00:13:19.760
Tom: I also actually reread The Chronicles of Narnia, I believe, this year.
00:13:20.680 --> 00:13:21.640
Phil: Did you write about it?
00:13:21.900 --> 00:13:22.680
Tom: No, I did not.
00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:25.120
Phil: Okay, then it didn't happen.
00:13:26.180 --> 00:13:27.600
Phil: Blog post or it didn't happen.
00:13:28.800 --> 00:13:41.920
Phil: So I'm reading through them, and I've thought, oh, I'll just see if there's any, you know, it was a long weekend in America, so there's no podcast to listen to, so I decided to see if there were any podcasts about Narnia.
00:13:42.620 --> 00:13:46.300
Phil: There are like four active Narnia podcasts right now.
00:13:46.640 --> 00:13:47.400
Tom: Only four.
00:13:48.160 --> 00:13:49.520
Phil: Yeah, I was amazed there were any.
00:13:49.540 --> 00:13:50.620
Phil: There's a bunch that are...
00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:55.340
Tom: There were recently big budget films based on Narnia.
00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:57.060
Phil: This is what I found out.
00:13:57.080 --> 00:14:00.340
Tom: I don't think Narnia's popularity has waned over the years.
00:14:01.280 --> 00:14:06.320
Phil: Yeah, well, anyway, these guys, so I go, okay, you know, let's listen to this guy's podcast, you know, whatever.
00:14:06.820 --> 00:14:11.020
Phil: It's called The Lamp Post Listener.
00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:15.680
Phil: And I selected it out of the four because it had the best graphic design.
00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:18.200
Phil: And I thought The Lamp Post Listener was a good name for it.
00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:19.980
Phil: So I download it.
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:25.080
Phil: They've got great music, great audio production, and they're going through episode one...
00:14:25.500 --> 00:14:29.720
Phil: Each episode is half an hour or so, and it goes through one chapter at a time.
00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:31.960
Phil: So it's like professionally produced.
00:14:32.760 --> 00:14:38.580
Phil: One guy is an English teacher for primary school kids, and the other guy is an illustrator.
00:14:38.680 --> 00:14:43.200
Phil: And the illustrator is the guy that actually comes up with most of the best literary...
00:14:44.500 --> 00:14:47.680
Phil: literary observations.
00:14:47.780 --> 00:14:52.680
Phil: It's quite hilarious because the English teacher goes, I thought it was just a rabbit.
00:14:52.700 --> 00:14:57.100
Phil: And the guy's like, well, actually, if you look into it, the rabbit probably represents this, that, and the other thing.
00:14:57.800 --> 00:15:02.340
Phil: And then they go through these episodes like, oh, yeah, our theme was composed by...
00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:07.380
Phil: And I'm like, well, who the hell are these people who are just doing this 90-year podcast?
00:15:07.400 --> 00:15:12.900
Phil: They've got a professionally produced song at the start, like we do, albeit, but it's like right out of the gate.
00:15:12.920 --> 00:15:14.320
Phil: They're like total professionals.
00:15:14.580 --> 00:15:16.380
Phil: It's disgusting.
00:15:16.380 --> 00:15:18.460
Phil: And you know what?
00:15:19.060 --> 00:15:20.440
Phil: It is disgusting.
00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:24.560
Phil: I mean, it took us 100 episodes before we both got studio quality mics.
00:15:25.520 --> 00:15:44.520
Tom: But did they read, and this is the real question, it's not what they say about it that matters, but what they read because I think, though you may be lagging behind here, I also read this year his space trilogy and all of his major non-fiction work that I had not yet read.
00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:47.760
Tom: So we may be ahead of them in-
00:15:47.860 --> 00:15:49.140
Phil: Well, here's the thing.
00:15:49.160 --> 00:16:00.720
Phil: The big reveal comes in episode three or something, where they say, now all along, they've said we're not Narnia experts, we're just two people talking about this book and we're going to go through it chapter by chapter, which is a great concept.
00:16:01.340 --> 00:16:04.060
Phil: And then they reveal that they haven't even read all of them yet.
00:16:06.560 --> 00:16:08.880
Phil: Which to us, I mean, come on.
00:16:09.620 --> 00:16:14.200
Phil: At least if you're going to dedicate yourself to a podcast, I mean, we've played all the video games.
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.260
Tom: I think that could make it more interesting and entertaining if they're coming to it fresh.
00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:21.580
Phil: Yeah, yeah, it is.
00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:24.400
Tom: So it's actually another advantage they have over us.
00:16:25.180 --> 00:16:26.060
Phil: It is, it is.
00:16:27.140 --> 00:16:35.320
Phil: Speaking of playing all the games, I got a copy of Retro Gamer today in the mail, the last video game magazine.
00:16:36.160 --> 00:16:44.020
Phil: And the depressing thing that was in it was, they have a feature on these retro games.
00:16:44.020 --> 00:16:49.900
Phil: And one of them is for the original Monster Hunter, which came out in 2004.
00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:51.960
Phil: So that's like 16 years ago.
00:16:52.920 --> 00:16:58.900
Phil: And I still have a sealed copy of Monster Hunter that I bought when it came out.
00:16:58.980 --> 00:17:01.200
Phil: And I still have intention of actually playing it.
00:17:02.180 --> 00:17:06.840
Phil: And something about seeing it in a retro game magazine as a, like a featured game.
00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:12.980
Phil: It's, now there's plenty of games in this magazine that I've never read, never played.
00:17:14.040 --> 00:17:17.380
Phil: But like, seeing a game that I bought with intent to play.
00:17:17.500 --> 00:17:18.760
Tom: And never got around to playing.
00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:22.540
Phil: And never got around to playing, and still over there in the other room.
00:17:23.040 --> 00:17:28.060
Phil: But they have a thing, go, now, you're a lot younger than I am, but-
00:17:28.300 --> 00:17:31.880
Tom: One thing I, is that really retro, 15 years old?
00:17:32.760 --> 00:17:34.740
Phil: I think so, I think so.
00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:37.120
Tom: When did the PlayStation come out?
00:17:37.740 --> 00:17:38.640
Phil: 1995.
00:17:38.820 --> 00:17:40.600
Tom: When did the NES come out?
00:17:41.300 --> 00:17:43.140
Phil: 1983, or 81.
00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:45.660
Tom: So about a decade earlier.
00:17:47.000 --> 00:18:07.740
Tom: Because to me, having begun with the SNES and PlayStation era, I would not consider something to be retro at that time, that was not made in the early 80s or 70s.
00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:15.420
Tom: Something very rudimentary and simple, like Pong or something of that effect.
00:18:16.020 --> 00:18:19.960
Phil: I think at this point, because they're covering games that came out on the Xbox.
00:18:20.060 --> 00:18:20.600
Phil: Yeah.
00:18:20.980 --> 00:18:26.240
Phil: I think if you're approaching that 20-year mark, it's basically a nostalgia thing.
00:18:26.260 --> 00:18:35.300
Phil: So for example, in each magazine, they give you the latest news from this month 17 years ago.
00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:43.420
Phil: So in August 2003, you would have been playing video games by a long shot.
00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:46.880
Phil: Would we have been on a website together by that time, 2003?
00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:48.480
Phil: No, that's 17 years ago.
00:18:49.520 --> 00:18:50.920
Tom: Probably not 2003.
00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:54.320
Tom: I think, but not many years after that.
00:18:54.980 --> 00:18:59.280
Tom: Probably the mid-2000s, I was on GameSpot, I think.
00:18:59.860 --> 00:19:00.660
Tom: Actually, probably not.
00:19:01.140 --> 00:19:02.160
Phil: Here's one of the crazy things.
00:19:02.180 --> 00:19:03.020
Phil: They have the charts.
00:19:04.260 --> 00:19:09.280
Phil: I was probably on GameSpot a little bit after that or at that time, but a little bit after that.
00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:13.000
Phil: They have the charts from August 2003.
00:19:13.820 --> 00:19:20.940
Phil: I'm so out of touch with music that I haven't heard of any of the music that was top of the charts in August 2003.
00:19:22.100 --> 00:19:23.180
Phil: I'll give you a try.
00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:24.040
Phil: We'll go through it real quick.
00:19:24.260 --> 00:19:28.860
Phil: A song called Breathe by Blue Cantrell featuring Sean Paul.
00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:30.620
Tom: I've heard of Sean Paul.
00:19:31.220 --> 00:19:31.700
Phil: Me too.
00:19:32.060 --> 00:19:32.860
Phil: He makes Jeans.
00:19:33.360 --> 00:19:35.100
Phil: We've gone over that in previous podcasts.
00:19:35.800 --> 00:19:38.440
Phil: Number two, Pretty Green Eyes by Ultra Beat.
00:19:40.660 --> 00:19:44.740
Tom: Pretty Green Eyes sounds familiar, but it's a very generic song title.
00:19:45.780 --> 00:19:48.440
Phil: Number three, Sleeping With The Light On by Busted.
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:53.900
Tom: Again, the title sounds familiar, but it is a very generic title.
00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:57.800
Phil: Number four, there's only five, Complete by Jameson.
00:19:58.380 --> 00:19:59.240
Tom: I think I've heard of Jameson.
00:20:12.120 --> 00:20:17.600
Tom: Well, I hope I've heard that, because as generic as the title is, it's simultaneously amazing.
00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:18.960
Phil: Okay, good.
00:20:19.120 --> 00:20:23.220
Phil: And it's probably my rendition of it that really brought you back to 2003.
00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:24.560
Tom: It was probably better than the song.
00:20:25.260 --> 00:20:28.560
Phil: Top games of 2003 for the PlayStation was Itoy Play.
00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:29.780
Phil: Did you ever play that?
00:20:29.820 --> 00:20:30.420
Tom: Yes, I did.
00:20:31.020 --> 00:20:32.680
Tom: The Itoy was amazing.
00:20:33.140 --> 00:20:33.720
Phil: I loved it.
00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:34.480
Phil: It was great.
00:20:34.940 --> 00:20:36.140
Phil: The Window Washing one.
00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:37.140
Tom: Yeah, incredible.
00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:39.960
Phil: With that guy's song that we've got to look up.
00:20:40.520 --> 00:20:42.260
Phil: Tomb Raider, The Angel of Darkness.
00:20:43.120 --> 00:20:43.920
Phil: Yeah, I played that.
00:20:43.940 --> 00:20:44.620
Phil: That was all right.
00:20:44.700 --> 00:20:45.680
Tom: I certainly did not.
00:20:46.860 --> 00:20:48.400
Phil: Socom, US Navy Seals.
00:20:49.760 --> 00:20:55.980
Tom: I have not played that either, unfortunately, but it did have an amazing voice feature, supposedly.
00:20:57.060 --> 00:20:57.820
Phil: Yeah, that's right.
00:20:58.020 --> 00:20:58.380
Phil: It did.
00:20:58.560 --> 00:21:00.120
Phil: It did because what happened was...
00:21:01.760 --> 00:21:07.040
Tom: You could command your AI troops that were helping in your squad.
00:21:07.660 --> 00:21:10.260
Phil: And when your mate got shot, his mic got killed.
00:21:10.280 --> 00:21:10.700
Tom: Yep.
00:21:11.220 --> 00:21:11.900
Tom: Very sad.
00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:13.040
Phil: That's good.
00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:17.220
Phil: And speaking of your hip references, Enter The Matrix.
00:21:18.040 --> 00:21:26.300
Tom: Yes, I always wanted to play that and I have since played about five seconds of an emulated version of it, but no more than that.
00:21:27.180 --> 00:21:36.540
Phil: My friend bought it at the time because I was getting back into gaming through the Dreamcast, like Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur, that sort of thing.
00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:41.320
Phil: And my friend bought it and I was like, dude, you don't buy licensed games.
00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:46.500
Phil: And you know how you're always crying about how movies are superior to games.
00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:47.960
Phil: Am I?
00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:51.200
Phil: Who won, man?
00:21:51.220 --> 00:21:55.860
Phil: Because they're no longer making games about movies, but now they're making movies about games.
00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:02.440
Tom: I think they still are making games about films, but the press decides to ignore that they exist.
00:22:03.520 --> 00:22:05.120
Phil: Yeah, but the tides have turned.
00:22:05.140 --> 00:22:09.380
Phil: They're making more movies about games than they are games about movies.
00:22:09.380 --> 00:22:09.880
Tom: Are they?
00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:18.460
Tom: I mean, that was a thing that was pretty common since the Tomb Raider film, which was a long time ago.
00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:23.480
Phil: All right, they did that movie Rampage.
00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:25.640
Phil: They did the movie Rampage about the arcade.
00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:29.000
Tom: Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia, Rampage.
00:22:29.960 --> 00:22:31.380
Phil: Rampage, asteroids.
00:22:32.700 --> 00:22:35.660
Phil: But what movies have been made about video games?
00:22:36.320 --> 00:22:38.720
Tom: Well, Tomb Raider is a film about games.
00:22:38.760 --> 00:22:41.400
Phil: But what I'm saying, what games have been made about movies lately?
00:22:41.460 --> 00:22:48.220
Phil: Like, they haven't done, you know, a movie about the latest Quentin Tarantino film, about Manson.
00:22:49.220 --> 00:22:53.180
Tom: That's just because Grand Theft Auto V is an endless game.
00:22:53.380 --> 00:22:54.360
Tom: Otherwise, they would have.
00:22:54.860 --> 00:22:57.480
Phil: GameCube, August 2003.
00:22:57.800 --> 00:22:59.760
Phil: Number one, FIFA 2003.
00:23:01.520 --> 00:23:03.040
Tom: That was the best game of that year?
00:23:03.820 --> 00:23:05.980
Phil: That was the leading chart in August.
00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.480
Phil: Oh, best selling, yeah.
00:23:08.540 --> 00:23:10.360
Phil: Number two was Sonic Adventure DX.
00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:11.440
Phil: I bought that.
00:23:12.980 --> 00:23:15.100
Phil: Number three, The Legend of Zelda, The Wind Waker.
00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:17.840
Tom: The best Zelda game?
00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:20.020
Phil: I don't know if I agree with that.
00:23:22.860 --> 00:23:24.060
Phil: I almost agree with that.
00:23:25.500 --> 00:23:26.840
Phil: Medal of Honor, Frontline.
00:23:27.180 --> 00:23:28.080
Phil: I bought that game.
00:23:28.100 --> 00:23:29.240
Phil: It was very disappointing.
00:23:29.660 --> 00:23:30.040
Tom: Is that...
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:31.760
Tom: Was that on GameCube?
00:23:32.300 --> 00:23:33.180
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
00:23:33.220 --> 00:23:34.120
Phil: I've got the GameCube.
00:23:34.140 --> 00:23:35.220
Tom: With the D-Day opening?
00:23:36.420 --> 00:23:39.280
Phil: Well, Frontline, I reckon it would be.
00:23:39.820 --> 00:23:40.960
Tom: That was a great opening.
00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:41.960
Tom: How was that disappointing?
00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:44.920
Phil: Well, at the time, because I was playing...
00:23:44.940 --> 00:23:46.760
Phil: You know, Call of Duty was also...
00:23:46.800 --> 00:23:50.920
Phil: Also came out on the PC at that time.
00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:56.820
Phil: And I thought, you know, me, I always, like, think that anything that happens after something else is a ripoff and just ignore it.
00:23:58.460 --> 00:24:01.620
Phil: So, like World War II, I mean, come on, you know.
00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:03.920
Phil: We've already done that.
00:24:04.040 --> 00:24:06.500
Phil: So, I just, you know, idiocy of the time.
00:24:06.560 --> 00:24:07.320
Phil: Idiocy of youth.
00:24:08.500 --> 00:24:14.920
Phil: And in Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, yeah, was the other GameCube game.
00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:17.220
Tom: Another game based on a film.
00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:18.880
Phil: Yep.
00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:20.800
Phil: Back then, 17 years ago.
00:24:21.080 --> 00:24:27.320
Phil: And then on the Xbox, you got FIFA at the top, Brute Force, which is a horrible game.
00:24:27.340 --> 00:24:29.040
Phil: That was called The Halo Killer.
00:24:29.140 --> 00:24:32.260
Phil: It was going to come out and be bigger than Halo.
00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:34.700
Phil: It was produced by Microsoft.
00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:35.660
Phil: Are you familiar with that one?
00:24:35.780 --> 00:24:36.560
Tom: I don't think so.
00:24:37.380 --> 00:24:38.980
Phil: It was a Party of Four.
00:24:39.360 --> 00:24:48.240
Phil: It had a lizard man, a redhead, which, you know, with large breasts, and, you know, a brick and, you know, that sort of thing.
00:24:48.260 --> 00:24:50.200
Phil: It was not good, not a good game.
00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:51.940
Tom: They should have called it a Party of Four.
00:24:52.420 --> 00:24:53.680
Phil: Party of Four would have been better.
00:24:54.060 --> 00:24:56.720
Phil: They didn't have the TV charged for that time.
00:24:56.740 --> 00:24:58.120
Phil: And then Project Gotham Racing.
00:24:58.680 --> 00:24:59.340
Tom: Great game.
00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:01.560
Phil: Yeah, bought that, hardly played it.
00:25:03.420 --> 00:25:07.920
Phil: And James Bond 007 Nightfire, which I completely don't know about.
00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:12.220
Tom: That is something of a cult classic, almost.
00:25:13.140 --> 00:25:17.960
Tom: Another film-based game, but one that was actually very good.
00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:27.800
Phil: Speaking about film-based games that aren't actually very good, I've been playing Bad Boys Miami Takedown for the PlayStation 2.
00:25:29.320 --> 00:25:30.320
Tom: How can that not be good?
00:25:31.560 --> 00:25:33.400
Phil: It is really good.
00:25:33.420 --> 00:25:36.880
Phil: The only thing that's not good about it is the...
00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:42.060
Phil: They don't say Mike Lowry enough.
00:25:42.120 --> 00:25:46.060
Phil: The only thing that's not good about it is it's got that old-timey checkpoint thing.
00:25:46.600 --> 00:25:55.900
Phil: It's a very short game on a very little budget, and so if you get killed, you go all the way back to the start of the level.
00:25:58.100 --> 00:26:00.340
Phil: Which, when you've got limited gaming time, is a pain.
00:26:01.540 --> 00:26:03.680
Phil: But other than that, it's amazing.
00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:05.000
Phil: It's true to the movie.
00:26:05.400 --> 00:26:11.760
Phil: They've got simulated cutscenes in between each level.
00:26:12.180 --> 00:26:14.680
Tom: Is a simulated cutscene gameplay?
00:26:15.820 --> 00:26:17.580
Phil: No, they've got simulated cutscenes.
00:26:18.760 --> 00:26:20.620
Tom: What is a simulated cutscene?
00:26:21.160 --> 00:26:25.140
Phil: Well, to me, a cutscene is not an FMV cutscene.
00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:27.780
Phil: They're not actually inserting clips of the movie.
00:26:27.800 --> 00:26:31.340
Phil: They're simulating scenes from the movie directly into the game.
00:26:31.360 --> 00:26:34.200
Phil: There's no artistic license being taken at all.
00:26:34.220 --> 00:26:38.540
Tom: So there are cutscenes that consist of simulations of scenes in the films.
00:26:38.940 --> 00:26:41.100
Phil: That is correct, and they are amazing.
00:26:41.740 --> 00:26:43.200
Tom: They're probably better than the film.
00:26:43.980 --> 00:26:45.320
Phil: Yeah, you'd love this game.
00:26:45.320 --> 00:26:52.820
Tom: And despite about how much I go on about films being better than games, I have never seen Bad Boys.
00:26:54.080 --> 00:26:54.500
Tom: What?
00:26:55.300 --> 00:27:02.660
Phil: Bad Boys 2 is better, but you've got to really see Bad Boys before you see Bad Boys 2 to really get what's going on.
00:27:02.800 --> 00:27:07.240
Phil: So both are on Netflix or Amazon, I don't know.
00:27:07.380 --> 00:27:08.260
Phil: They're on something.
00:27:08.760 --> 00:27:09.580
Phil: You've got to watch it.
00:27:10.180 --> 00:27:22.580
Phil: The game, they appear to have voice likes or actual voice clips, but they're not really trying very hard to do likenesses of the actors.
00:27:24.620 --> 00:27:26.080
Phil: Will Smith and the other guy.
00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:28.180
Tom: Martin Lawrence, is it?
00:27:28.360 --> 00:27:29.460
Phil: Martin Lawrence, yeah.
00:27:29.860 --> 00:27:33.220
Phil: Which is weird because they're using their likenesses on the front of the box.
00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:34.360
Phil: It looks like the DVD.
00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:41.680
Phil: And they're using their voices, but the actual likenesses, I don't know if it's just the limitations of the PlayStation 2.
00:27:43.520 --> 00:27:48.740
Phil: Were there many PlayStation 2 games that had artistic, like realistic likenesses of famous people?
00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:53.080
Tom: Was Stranglehold a PS2 game?
00:27:53.800 --> 00:27:54.800
Tom: Or was that later?
00:27:54.820 --> 00:27:59.120
Phil: Stranglehold was a PlayStation 3 game that John Woo presents.
00:28:00.900 --> 00:28:02.440
Tom: Max Payne 2.
00:28:03.500 --> 00:28:04.580
Phil: Max Payne?
00:28:04.600 --> 00:28:05.780
Phil: Max Payne's not a real person.
00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:07.780
Tom: Max Payne 2 is a real person.
00:28:07.800 --> 00:28:10.600
Tom: The Sam Lake, whatever he's called.
00:28:10.860 --> 00:28:12.920
Phil: Max Payne 2 is a real person.
00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:19.240
Tom: He's based on Sam Lake or whatever the fuck he's called.
00:28:19.460 --> 00:28:22.080
Phil: That is right up there with Metroid is a lady?
00:28:22.100 --> 00:28:25.820
Phil: What did you say?
00:28:25.840 --> 00:28:26.940
Tom: Look up Sam Lake.
00:28:27.560 --> 00:28:30.020
Phil: I know the video game guy.
00:28:30.040 --> 00:28:30.980
Tom: You asked me.
00:28:31.820 --> 00:28:33.020
Phil: Masturbation face.
00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:36.400
Tom: Are there any PS2 games with realistic likenesses?
00:28:37.100 --> 00:28:41.440
Tom: Max Payne is a realistic likeness of Sam Lake.
00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:42.860
Phil: Of a celebrity.
00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:46.160
Phil: What exactly did you say?
00:28:46.180 --> 00:28:47.880
Phil: Max Payne 2 is a real person?
00:28:49.480 --> 00:28:50.860
Tom: I stand by that statement.
00:28:51.820 --> 00:28:53.960
Phil: Corporations are citizens too, my friend.
00:28:55.860 --> 00:28:57.560
Phil: Anyway, Retro Game Magazine.
00:28:57.580 --> 00:28:58.460
Phil: That's what I was reading.
00:29:01.060 --> 00:29:04.300
Phil: We covered off the CS Lewis thing.
00:29:04.320 --> 00:29:06.680
Phil: So you read through them recently, so you're not looking down on me?
00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:11.480
Tom: I recommend the Space Trilogy.
00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:14.860
Tom: They are absolutely bonkers.
00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:19.320
Tom: There is a lot of sexual tension in them.
00:29:20.560 --> 00:29:22.180
Phil: Was that his LSD stage?
00:29:23.380 --> 00:29:27.060
Tom: That was his science fiction theology stage.
00:29:28.680 --> 00:29:29.400
Phil: Science fiction?
00:29:31.040 --> 00:29:31.300
Phil: Really?
00:29:31.500 --> 00:29:35.100
Tom: It is called the Space Trilogy, so that might have been a clue.
00:29:35.740 --> 00:29:37.220
Phil: I thought you meant Christian scientists.
00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:37.720
Tom: No.
00:29:40.600 --> 00:29:42.620
Phil: Hey...
00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:47.660
Tom: Before we move on from the topic of retro games, we should bring up Carrion.
00:29:49.060 --> 00:29:49.300
Phil: Oh!
00:29:50.360 --> 00:30:00.300
Tom: Not as in Carrion, the classic British slapstick film series, but Carrion, slash softcore pornography, I should add, but Carrion...
00:30:01.760 --> 00:30:03.400
Phil: The decaying flesh of dead animals?
00:30:04.740 --> 00:30:05.180
Tom: Yes.
00:30:05.480 --> 00:30:10.280
Tom: Well, it contains the flesh of dead animals that is human beings, I believe.
00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:13.380
Phil: So this is C-A-R-R-I-O-N.
00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:13.920
Tom: Correct.
00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:17.180
Phil: And it's on Switch, Xbox One, PC...
00:30:17.180 --> 00:30:19.940
Tom: Yep, and Xbox Games Pass, conveniently.
00:30:21.060 --> 00:30:35.240
Tom: And essentially, it is basically a alien-style horror game, except you are playing as the alien, rather than as the people being stalked by said alien.
00:30:35.780 --> 00:30:43.120
Tom: So it's a brilliant concept for a game, and it works incredibly well.
00:30:43.180 --> 00:31:08.280
Tom: It's 2D, and you basically control this massive blob of flesh with the left mouse button clicking and holding where you want to go, and your right mouse button controls your prehensile tentacles, which you can use to grab people and throw them around, or draw them towards you so you can eat them.
00:31:09.020 --> 00:31:14.560
Tom: You can use it to open doors and perform other various tasks that are required for Navigating.
00:31:14.580 --> 00:31:34.180
Tom: You can also use it to throw doors and other things at people, which is often very useful, particularly as you start coming up against enemies with shields and things like that, which require some strategy to fight against.
00:31:35.020 --> 00:31:50.840
Tom: As it goes along, it becomes partially a stealth game as well as an action game where you have to be able to get behind enemies that have shields which prevent you from attacking them directly and things like that.
00:31:50.860 --> 00:31:53.400
Tom: It's very simple, but it works quite well.
00:31:53.420 --> 00:32:06.140
Tom: The structure is basically a Metroidvania, so it doesn't need to be all that complex in its moment-to-moment gameplay as the exploration is a major part of it.
00:32:06.580 --> 00:32:13.460
Tom: But the exploration is also a big issue because there is no map whatsoever.
00:32:13.560 --> 00:32:21.500
Tom: If you want a map, you have to go and look up maps that people have made based on screenshots and other various tools.
00:32:22.220 --> 00:32:27.080
Tom: And the construction of the world is extremely convoluted.
00:32:27.100 --> 00:32:37.920
Tom: There's a basic sort of hub world with doors leading to different areas, but it's not that simple to navigate as you're going along.
00:32:38.120 --> 00:32:43.500
Tom: You can't necessarily easily go from door to door in the hub world.
00:32:43.520 --> 00:32:48.040
Tom: You have to sometimes backtrack through previous areas to get to different doors.
00:32:49.760 --> 00:33:02.340
Tom: And once you leave some of the levels, you can actually end up going back to the hub world rather than moving to the next area, which is very awkward.
00:33:03.360 --> 00:33:06.600
Phil: I've got to say, I'm looking at the gameplay video that's on Devolver's site.
00:33:06.620 --> 00:33:11.300
Phil: Devolver published it and Phobia Studios or Phobia Games developed it.
00:33:11.900 --> 00:33:16.020
Phil: It's on Game Over, GOG, Good Old Games as well as Steam.
00:33:17.160 --> 00:33:26.140
Phil: I've got to say the motion of the alien is very fluid and much like the end of...
00:33:26.800 --> 00:33:30.260
Phil: Was it Limbo or the sequel to Limbo?
00:33:30.560 --> 00:33:31.160
Tom: Inside.
00:33:31.180 --> 00:33:32.060
Phil: Inside, yes.
00:33:35.020 --> 00:33:38.740
Phil: Also the animation, it's a very retro type presentation.
00:33:38.760 --> 00:33:40.460
Phil: It's very clearly a Metroidvania.
00:33:41.420 --> 00:33:44.480
Phil: But the way that the characters move and run are much like...
00:33:45.020 --> 00:33:47.580
Phil: I don't know if you're familiar with the game called Impossible Mission.
00:33:47.600 --> 00:33:48.580
Phil: I am.
00:33:48.660 --> 00:33:59.380
Phil: Yeah, which is like that elevator type game where they use sort of roto scope type graphics to simulate effective running.
00:33:59.400 --> 00:34:01.500
Phil: I'm amazed that you're familiar with Impossible Mission.
00:34:02.900 --> 00:34:05.260
Tom: That's a pretty classic game, isn't it?
00:34:05.860 --> 00:34:07.540
Phil: Yeah, I just didn't know most...
00:34:07.560 --> 00:34:15.720
Phil: Because it came out for the Commodore 64 and was sort of an Anglo-centric type game, I didn't know that you'd be aware of it.
00:34:16.420 --> 00:34:21.960
Phil: But certainly the movement of the characters and the presentation of the levels reminds me of that.
00:34:22.340 --> 00:34:33.380
Phil: And then also it brings into mind for our North American viewers the original Prince of Persia, if you can all remember that silky animation of the guy running.
00:34:33.580 --> 00:34:39.020
Tom: And Another World and Heart of Darkness, also by the same person.
00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:42.180
Phil: And Beat Cop, you know, the other classics.
00:34:42.200 --> 00:34:47.820
Tom: But not as good as Eric Chahey's rotoscoping, I would say.
00:34:48.760 --> 00:34:50.020
Phil: Now, what's Eric Chahey's?
00:34:50.300 --> 00:34:51.760
Tom: He's the Prince of Persia.
00:34:53.220 --> 00:34:56.520
Tom: Sorry, not Prince of Persia, he's the Another World, Heart of Darkness guy.
00:34:57.080 --> 00:34:58.400
Phil: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:34:58.420 --> 00:35:01.500
Tom: He is on another level to Prince of Persia.
00:35:02.740 --> 00:35:04.860
Phil: Yeah, and that's a good read, by the way.
00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:13.240
Phil: The creator of Prince of Persia, he has a diary that he wrote, or a book that he wrote about the making of the Prince of Persia, which is quite good.
00:35:15.040 --> 00:35:18.620
Phil: It's really honest, and a lot of it's quite embarrassing.
00:35:18.920 --> 00:35:23.860
Phil: I would have thrown away, and I have thrown away, similar journals from when I was at that stage of my life.
00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:27.620
Phil: It's a very interesting reading, not only from a video game perspective.
00:35:28.940 --> 00:35:32.280
Phil: That's the maker of Prince of Persia.
00:35:32.300 --> 00:35:33.900
Phil: You'd be able to find it on Kindle.
00:35:35.120 --> 00:35:40.260
Phil: But yeah, the movement of the alien in this game looks really great.
00:35:40.280 --> 00:35:41.480
Phil: It looks like it's a lot of fun.
00:35:41.500 --> 00:35:42.920
Phil: How does it actually handle?
00:35:42.940 --> 00:35:45.000
Phil: Is it like a dual stick type thing?
00:35:45.060 --> 00:35:52.860
Tom: Well, I'm not sure how it works on a controller, but with the mouse and keyboard controls, it's very simple.
00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:57.700
Tom: You just click where you want it to move, or if you want to keep moving, then you click and hold.
00:35:58.300 --> 00:36:34.920
Tom: And it works as fluidly in your control as the animation where it looks like it's rolling around as a mass of flesh, because in certain areas, other than in combat, which does actually end up requiring some degree of finesse and skill, there are also sections with lasers that you have to move stealthily through using a skill that makes you invisible, and they can also require some reasonable level of locomotion.
00:36:34.940 --> 00:36:41.120
Tom: So it controls as fluidly and accurately as it animates.
00:36:42.420 --> 00:36:43.280
Phil: It looks brilliant.
00:36:43.300 --> 00:36:55.120
Phil: And now that I'm looking at some more gameplay, they've got obvious nods to Impossible Mission with a blue computer screen at a desk and some of the other elements of it.
00:36:55.140 --> 00:36:57.300
Phil: So yeah, this looks like a lovingly...
00:36:57.860 --> 00:36:59.500
Phil: it looks like a really well-made game.
00:36:59.780 --> 00:37:01.080
Phil: How far into it are you?
00:37:01.340 --> 00:37:03.680
Tom: I'm probably about a third of the way into it.
00:37:05.080 --> 00:37:22.340
Tom: And the other thing I appreciate about it as well, aesthetically, is though you were playing as the monster, it does not attempt to present anything differently to how it would be presented if the roles were reversed.
00:37:22.360 --> 00:37:27.400
Tom: So there is a very dark atmosphere to it.
00:37:27.400 --> 00:37:38.040
Tom: And when the human beings see you, they run around screaming and all that sort of thing, which just adds to the appeal.
00:37:39.340 --> 00:37:41.460
Phil: It's called Carrion, by the way.
00:37:41.720 --> 00:37:45.380
Phil: It's available on PC, Steam, GOG, Xbox One.
00:37:46.620 --> 00:37:47.520
Phil: What were you playing it on?
00:37:47.540 --> 00:37:48.220
Phil: PC, obviously.
00:37:48.240 --> 00:37:51.000
Phil: You were doing keyboard and you said it was part of Game Pass.
00:37:51.020 --> 00:37:51.460
Tom: Correct.
00:37:52.040 --> 00:37:52.900
Phil: Yep, yep.
00:37:53.020 --> 00:37:55.500
Phil: So, okay, it looks really good.
00:37:55.980 --> 00:37:58.000
Phil: I mean, how long is it, do you think?
00:37:58.860 --> 00:38:04.240
Phil: Because honestly, the presentation of it looks like it would get old after about four or five hours.
00:38:04.620 --> 00:38:09.060
Tom: I think it is only about three to four or five hours, so...
00:38:10.440 --> 00:38:11.840
Tom: What you were hoping for.
00:38:12.740 --> 00:38:14.300
Phil: Yeah, definitely, definitely.
00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:15.240
Phil: Anything else on that?
00:38:16.020 --> 00:38:16.880
Tom: Not so far.
00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:21.740
Tom: Just, again, the overworld is atrocious, unfortunately.
00:38:23.680 --> 00:38:25.940
Tom: But worth putting up for, I would say.
00:38:25.960 --> 00:38:34.860
Tom: And before we move on from Game Pass, I just recalled that I finished Minecraft Dungeons some time ago.
00:38:34.880 --> 00:38:36.660
Phil: You finished it?
00:38:36.820 --> 00:38:37.100
Tom: Yes.
00:38:37.120 --> 00:38:44.060
Phil: Okay, this was the top-down, isometric view, kind of real-time...
00:38:44.640 --> 00:38:46.200
Tom: Minecraft Diablo clone.
00:38:46.660 --> 00:38:47.720
Phil: Yeah, Diablo clone.
00:38:47.740 --> 00:38:49.020
Phil: So it's like a loot game.
00:38:50.480 --> 00:39:00.300
Tom: And regular listeners of the show would remember my complaints about exploration not really being rewarded in the levels.
00:39:00.460 --> 00:39:03.880
Tom: Once you get to the halfway mark, that changes completely.
00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:14.920
Tom: And the amount of loot you get when you are looking through the levels rather than just going from the beginning to the end is huge.
00:39:14.940 --> 00:39:19.180
Tom: So that is actually rewarded and makes exploration satisfying.
00:39:19.760 --> 00:39:22.320
Tom: And I also said that no one was playing it.
00:39:22.340 --> 00:39:28.560
Tom: In fact, the co-op, like in the main Minecraft game, is friend-only.
00:39:28.860 --> 00:39:36.060
Tom: So to play it online with someone, you have to have them on your Xbox friends list.
00:39:37.040 --> 00:39:40.280
Tom: So that was not a lack of players, but how the system worked.
00:39:41.320 --> 00:39:43.080
Phil: Well, that's fair of you to bring that back up.
00:39:43.220 --> 00:39:43.520
Tom: Yep.
00:39:43.800 --> 00:39:47.520
Phil: And that's a part of Game Pass.
00:39:49.620 --> 00:39:59.060
Phil: Microsoft announced this week, I think it was, or last week, that their streaming game service is actually going to be built into Game Pass now as well.
00:40:00.660 --> 00:40:01.580
Phil: So I don't know.
00:40:01.600 --> 00:40:03.020
Phil: Oh, we had no additional cost.
00:40:04.260 --> 00:40:07.140
Phil: So it's quite the value proposition.
00:40:07.800 --> 00:40:08.660
Tom: It already was.
00:40:09.080 --> 00:40:17.360
Tom: And the last thing I would add on Minecraft Dungeons is the last level is incredible.
00:40:18.360 --> 00:40:40.120
Tom: It is this extremely long multi-stage with some of the most interesting dungeon design aspects with jumping from sections of castle walls to sections of castle walls and things like that, with also some of the best combinations of enemies.
00:40:40.140 --> 00:40:47.520
Tom: It is procedurally generated, but obviously they have parameters for what sort of enemies you're going to be fighting against in certain areas.
00:40:48.020 --> 00:40:57.700
Tom: And the final boss battle also is an epic multi-stage affair that is on another level to the rest of the game.
00:40:57.700 --> 00:41:02.960
Tom: So it is worth playing for the last level, if anything else.
00:41:03.580 --> 00:41:09.760
Phil: Is it worth playing if you have to pay for it and you don't have much experience with Minecraft itself?
00:41:11.200 --> 00:41:15.520
Tom: Well, I think it would be more depending on your interest in playing Diablo clones.
00:41:16.020 --> 00:41:16.620
Phil: Yeah, righto.
00:41:16.800 --> 00:41:28.540
Tom: Because from the Diablo clones I've played, it seems to be doing something maybe a bit more casual than many of them, but certainly what it does do, it does very well indeed.
00:41:30.140 --> 00:41:32.620
Phil: I think that's the sort of thing that I'd want to play on the Switch.
00:41:33.420 --> 00:41:40.280
Phil: Something that I'd be using as a second screen type game, as something where I'd be dedicating myself to sit down at a computer to play.
00:41:40.320 --> 00:41:40.520
Tom: Yep.
00:41:41.760 --> 00:41:43.780
Phil: Or sit down at a console to play.
00:41:47.080 --> 00:41:55.160
Tom: And I will add one more correction, because my Sky season of Sanctuary, I think it was?
00:41:56.200 --> 00:41:56.720
Phil: So different game.
00:41:56.740 --> 00:41:57.540
Tom: Yeah, different game.
00:41:58.100 --> 00:42:02.020
Tom: The new season in Sky, I had impressions from the beta.
00:42:03.100 --> 00:42:07.420
Tom: Its implementation in the actual game is slightly different.
00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:18.520
Tom: Not to do anything they did differently, though they have unfortunately removed some stages of the quests that were in the beta for some reason, which is unknown.
00:42:18.760 --> 00:42:27.820
Tom: But the tropical island is a much more interesting area to explore aesthetically with more people.
00:42:28.060 --> 00:42:36.040
Tom: I said originally the aesthetic didn't really fit the tone of Sky, but with people in it, it makes a little bit more sense.
00:42:36.080 --> 00:42:39.500
Tom: And the same goes for the style of clothing.
00:42:39.520 --> 00:43:05.260
Tom: When you're able to combine them with a lot of the clothing items that are in the game from prior seasons and the original areas, they also transition into the game better than when you're playing in beta where most people don't have a lot of different clothing items and there usually were not many people in the new area.
00:43:06.440 --> 00:43:08.160
Phil: So I've got a question for you.
00:43:08.180 --> 00:43:14.520
Phil: We're talking about Sky, Children of Light, which is on iOS and Android, and soon to come to Switch, hopefully.
00:43:15.240 --> 00:43:36.180
Phil: When a user like me gets it on Switch and I'm going to be playing it the way I play Switch games, which is a second screen, a pleasant distraction, will a noob like me, because I'm not going to be playing it mostly to sort of interact with you, is that going to be completely boring for you?
00:43:36.260 --> 00:43:37.820
Phil: Or how is that going to work?
00:43:37.840 --> 00:43:47.420
Phil: Because you're like level 70 or whatever, and I'm going to come in, I'll be just like a guy with no clothes, no candles.
00:43:48.540 --> 00:43:49.340
Phil: How is that going to work?
00:43:50.080 --> 00:44:00.360
Tom: I don't think that's an issue because it is a MMO game, so the whole structure is based on repeatedly doing the same thing again and again and again.
00:44:02.420 --> 00:44:03.760
Phil: So it's like doing this podcast.
00:44:03.820 --> 00:44:04.420
Tom: Exactly.
00:44:07.400 --> 00:44:09.880
Phil: Okay, finally you put me at ease.
00:44:09.900 --> 00:44:19.580
Tom: And I may as well, while we're just doing short impressions, bring up that I finished Beat Cop, finally.
00:44:20.020 --> 00:44:20.640
Phil: Beat Cop.
00:44:20.660 --> 00:44:24.040
Tom: Yes, and I actually made it to the final day.
00:44:24.620 --> 00:44:38.780
Tom: But I unfortunately encountered two glitches, one of which resulted in me being unable to solve the case as to who stole the diamonds, or rather...
00:44:38.800 --> 00:44:40.040
Phil: You did?
00:44:40.420 --> 00:44:41.280
Tom: No, I could not.
00:44:41.300 --> 00:44:42.060
Phil: Oh.
00:44:42.080 --> 00:44:52.840
Tom: I could not solve the case due to a glitch, because on day 14 or 17, when you are meant to be finding...
00:44:52.860 --> 00:45:10.500
Tom: You're meant to be receiving a call from a certain person, I had a glitch where my character was unable to move, which is a glitch many people have encountered, and it has recurred for them, resulting in them being unable to finish the game and the day.
00:45:11.420 --> 00:45:21.160
Tom: I restarted the day when this glitch occurred, but encountered another glitch, which resulted in me never getting...
00:45:21.500 --> 00:45:27.000
Tom: Actually, I got the cue for the call, but when I went to use the phone, that did not work.
00:45:27.260 --> 00:45:43.920
Tom: And not only did that not work, it was a recurring glitch later on, but I don't think it interfered with any cues like that, where what happens is rather than you not moving, the entire street, the population stops moving, and that's it.
00:45:44.220 --> 00:45:46.820
Phil: Wait, do you think that might not be a feature?
00:45:46.840 --> 00:45:48.600
Tom: No, that is a glitch.
00:45:48.600 --> 00:45:49.940
Phil: It's some sort of thematic choice?
00:45:49.960 --> 00:45:51.480
Tom: I don't think it is a thematic choice.
00:45:51.500 --> 00:46:04.780
Tom: It actually looks very eerie and impressive, but I do believe it is a glitch, given that it results in you being unable to make phone calls and give out tickets.
00:46:05.660 --> 00:46:07.740
Phil: Sounds like a thematic choice that we would make.
00:46:09.240 --> 00:46:11.780
Tom: We would, but I don't think they did, unfortunately.
00:46:13.080 --> 00:46:18.700
Phil: They just play that song that came on at the end of...
00:46:23.200 --> 00:46:25.560
Tom: That wasn't you forgetting what you were going to talk about.
00:46:25.580 --> 00:46:26.800
Tom: That was a thematic choice.
00:46:29.600 --> 00:46:31.760
Phil: What was that HBO show about the Mafia?
00:46:32.320 --> 00:46:33.280
Tom: The Sopranos.
00:46:35.140 --> 00:46:36.200
Phil: The Sopranos.
00:46:37.280 --> 00:46:38.120
Tom: I believe it is.
00:46:38.580 --> 00:46:41.380
Phil: You don't think that that was their Sopranos ending?
00:46:41.560 --> 00:46:41.940
Tom: No.
00:46:43.580 --> 00:46:44.020
Phil: All right.
00:46:44.040 --> 00:46:45.200
Phil: You got any other quickies?
00:46:46.240 --> 00:46:47.020
Tom: Yes, I do.
00:46:47.540 --> 00:46:48.280
Phil: Well, wait, wait, wait.
00:46:48.320 --> 00:46:50.920
Phil: I've got important things to say about Crackdown 3.
00:46:50.940 --> 00:46:52.680
Phil: Perhaps the listeners want to hear that.
00:46:53.300 --> 00:46:57.640
Tom: They can wait, because I started Pathologic 2.
00:46:58.260 --> 00:46:59.100
Phil: Pathologic?
00:46:59.360 --> 00:47:00.180
Tom: Pathologic.
00:47:00.320 --> 00:47:01.700
Tom: I think it's just called Pathologic.
00:47:02.300 --> 00:47:03.080
Phil: So, it's not French?
00:47:03.220 --> 00:47:03.460
Tom: No.
00:47:04.080 --> 00:47:05.620
Tom: It's Russian, in fact.
00:47:05.640 --> 00:47:06.120
Phil: Russian?
00:47:06.360 --> 00:47:06.800
Tom: Yes.
00:47:07.200 --> 00:47:08.200
Phil: Pathologic.
00:47:08.300 --> 00:47:09.900
Tom: Yes, yes.
00:47:10.300 --> 00:47:10.940
Phil: Good game.
00:47:11.180 --> 00:47:11.940
Tom: Yes, yes.
00:47:12.080 --> 00:47:12.360
Phil: And...
00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:14.720
Phil: Yes, yes.
00:47:15.980 --> 00:47:28.840
Tom: Rather than my impressions, I will give you my mother's commentary on the opening, because I will be returning to the game at some point to talk about it in more depth, but her commentary was...
00:47:29.560 --> 00:47:31.280
Phil: Before we get to the big thing...
00:47:31.900 --> 00:47:33.900
Phil: Pathologic is what sort of game...
00:47:34.880 --> 00:47:36.440
Phil: Because I don't know anything about it.
00:47:36.820 --> 00:47:37.400
Phil: I thought that...
00:47:37.780 --> 00:47:41.380
Tom: I believe it was described in one review as Skyrim Lite.
00:47:42.620 --> 00:47:43.720
Phil: Skyrim Lite?
00:47:44.680 --> 00:47:45.540
Phil: What the bloody hell?
00:47:45.560 --> 00:47:48.740
Phil: Skyrim is like Oblivion Lite, which is Morrowind Lite.
00:47:49.420 --> 00:47:50.720
Tom: This is the next stage.
00:47:50.740 --> 00:47:55.580
Tom: This is why we haven't seen another Elder Scrolls game, because this was the next Elder Scrolls.
00:47:56.220 --> 00:48:04.200
Phil: So, the guy who made it, he's like a hipster, like in terms of, you know, the gaming press all love the guy that made it, don't they?
00:48:05.120 --> 00:48:06.220
Tom: Is it a single guy?
00:48:06.240 --> 00:48:06.440
Tom: Isn't it?
00:48:06.800 --> 00:48:07.880
Tom: I don't think it's a guy.
00:48:07.900 --> 00:48:21.780
Tom: I think it's several people in Russia, but they are like the developers of Sunset and so forth, a primarily artistic endeavour.
00:48:22.400 --> 00:48:23.420
Phil: It's a Russian game.
00:48:23.760 --> 00:48:24.040
Tom: Yes.
00:48:24.300 --> 00:48:25.820
Phil: I might be thinking of someone else.
00:48:26.300 --> 00:48:30.380
Tom: The previous game that they made that got the most attention was The Void.
00:48:30.400 --> 00:48:33.900
Phil: Okay, well Pathologic came out in 2005.
00:48:34.000 --> 00:48:43.340
Tom: Yep, and this is called Pathologic 2, but it is in fact a remake of the original Pathologic, even though the original Pathologic also had a remaster.
00:48:44.040 --> 00:48:46.780
Tom: So this is the third version of the same game, essentially.
00:48:46.800 --> 00:48:50.680
Phil: So they're like the Metro guys, they just keep making the same game over and over again.
00:48:50.880 --> 00:48:53.420
Tom: Yes, but in this case, it's literally the same game.
00:48:54.180 --> 00:49:04.020
Tom: Though I do believe there are substantive differences between Pathologic and Pathologic Classic HD compared to Pathologic 2.
00:49:05.420 --> 00:49:07.820
Phil: So Pathologic 2, what did your mom say?
00:49:07.820 --> 00:49:20.600
Tom: Yeah, well, she watched some of the opening, me playing it, and her commentary was that it was as bad as watching a disturbing film and that she was going to have nightmares, at which point she then left.
00:49:21.840 --> 00:49:23.600
Phil: Okay, so mission accomplished.
00:49:23.620 --> 00:49:23.880
Tom: Yes.
00:49:25.960 --> 00:49:29.480
Phil: You just tape that and just, oh, what are you doing over there?
00:49:29.500 --> 00:49:30.100
Phil: What are you doing?
00:49:30.120 --> 00:49:31.660
Phil: I'm just going to play Pathologic 2.
00:49:36.280 --> 00:49:37.560
Phil: So is it any good?
00:49:38.540 --> 00:49:41.380
Tom: The opening is amazing, I would say.
00:49:41.580 --> 00:49:48.460
Tom: It's not merely very good, but one of the best openings in any game I have played.
00:49:49.280 --> 00:49:51.400
Phil: The best opening of any game you've ever played?
00:49:51.420 --> 00:49:52.940
Tom: One of the best openings.
00:49:55.080 --> 00:50:01.100
Tom: That is in terms of narrative, in terms of gameplay, there was not much going on.
00:50:02.100 --> 00:50:10.960
Tom: But I don't think it is, I think it is meant to actually have a fair bit of depth to its gameplay, but only once it actually begins.
00:50:10.980 --> 00:50:17.500
Tom: Essentially, the opening is basically a tutorial and introduction to the story.
00:50:18.180 --> 00:50:26.040
Phil: Well, I'm watching the opening now, and I'll be the judge of that, so you keep yammering on about whatever it is you're talking about.
00:50:26.060 --> 00:50:33.420
Phil: There's a grizzly bear, like a, like a, some sort of riding horse grizzly bear, a street lamp.
00:50:33.480 --> 00:50:35.580
Phil: It looks like you're photos from Melbourne, honestly.
00:50:37.400 --> 00:50:38.980
Phil: Particularly now there's some hopscotch.
00:50:39.560 --> 00:50:43.700
Phil: There's a redheaded girl, poorly animated, near a fire.
00:50:44.220 --> 00:50:45.260
Phil: There's three children.
00:50:45.280 --> 00:50:46.080
Phil: That's always good.
00:50:46.240 --> 00:50:48.140
Phil: What was that Rule of Rose game?
00:50:48.160 --> 00:50:49.200
Tom: Yes, Rule of Rose.
00:50:49.520 --> 00:50:50.700
Phil: The Bearing, the Teddy.
00:50:51.160 --> 00:50:52.600
Phil: Oh, that one looks not happy.
00:50:52.960 --> 00:50:55.420
Phil: It's all the closeups of faces.
00:50:55.440 --> 00:50:56.760
Phil: This doesn't look like the start of it.
00:50:56.780 --> 00:51:00.000
Phil: Looks a little more like a, like a trailer or a demo of it.
00:51:00.100 --> 00:51:01.160
Phil: That's probably what it is.
00:51:02.000 --> 00:51:03.360
Phil: So it's a creepy, creepy game.
00:51:03.520 --> 00:51:05.060
Tom: Yes, it could be the start of it.
00:51:05.060 --> 00:51:09.320
Tom: It begins with you in a dark area.
00:51:09.340 --> 00:51:13.300
Tom: You then go and talk to someone on a stage and it zooms in on their face.
00:51:13.640 --> 00:51:14.640
Phil: Changed, yep.
00:51:14.940 --> 00:51:19.820
Phil: Yeah, now I'm watching the proper 1440p and there's dead bodies and a stage.
00:51:19.840 --> 00:51:21.700
Phil: And yeah, it looks pretty creepy.
00:51:22.620 --> 00:51:32.120
Phil: And I think creepy stuff from cultures that aren't your own is usually creepier than if it were your own culture, you know, with this coming from, there's the Russians who make this, yeah?
00:51:32.140 --> 00:51:32.180
Phil: Yeah.
00:51:32.480 --> 00:51:33.040
Tom: Correct.
00:51:33.340 --> 00:51:34.240
Phil: Duh, yeah.
00:51:34.660 --> 00:51:41.500
Tom: What is most creepy though is the stuff from other cultures or your own that is creepy, that is not meant to be creepy.
00:51:42.500 --> 00:51:44.960
Phil: So what's with the zooming in on the faces?
00:51:44.980 --> 00:51:45.680
Phil: Does that work?
00:51:46.700 --> 00:52:01.300
Tom: It does, it absolutely does in the flow of the game because it, at least in the beginning, is constantly changing perspective and scene and it builds up a brilliant momentum as it goes along.
00:52:02.940 --> 00:52:07.480
Phil: It looks worthwhile, it does look like a Skyrim type game, but the setting is not that at all.
00:52:07.500 --> 00:52:13.840
Phil: It looks like more of a 1930s, possibly 1890s kind of era.
00:52:14.140 --> 00:52:18.440
Tom: It's also nothing like Skyrim other than the loot system.
00:52:19.380 --> 00:52:20.400
Phil: Yeah, okay.
00:52:20.420 --> 00:52:21.600
Tom: It's in first person.
00:52:22.340 --> 00:52:25.760
Phil: And it's a video game on a screen.
00:52:26.480 --> 00:52:29.480
Phil: And it probably also required use of a controller as well.
00:52:29.660 --> 00:52:35.760
Phil: Speaking of use of a controller, I don't know that, you know how I've wanted a Steam link for some time?
00:52:36.160 --> 00:52:37.480
Tom: Yes, I do.
00:52:37.520 --> 00:52:40.480
Phil: And they're unattainable at this point.
00:52:41.060 --> 00:52:41.700
Phil: I was on Steam.
00:52:41.720 --> 00:52:43.540
Tom: I have a Steam controller, unfortunately.
00:52:44.080 --> 00:52:46.880
Phil: Yeah, or fortunately, however you view it.
00:52:46.900 --> 00:52:48.660
Phil: But where do you want one?
00:52:48.780 --> 00:52:50.100
Phil: Why do you want a Steam controller?
00:52:50.420 --> 00:52:53.980
Tom: They look like an interesting control innovation to me.
00:52:55.240 --> 00:52:58.400
Phil: Yeah, I'd like to give one a try, at least.
00:52:59.700 --> 00:53:08.840
Tom: I believe they had a fire sale of the last stock of Steam controllers that were produced, but unfortunately, you cannot purchase them in Australia.
00:53:09.680 --> 00:53:11.580
Phil: No, and same for the Steam link as well.
00:53:11.600 --> 00:53:16.580
Phil: I'm just going to look on ebay.com.au to see.
00:53:17.600 --> 00:53:22.740
Phil: Steam links are going for 120 bucks, and I think they were selling for like five bucks in the States.
00:53:24.380 --> 00:53:28.620
Phil: Steam controller didn't even return a response.
00:53:30.700 --> 00:53:34.260
Phil: So maybe I put in Valve, Steam controller.
00:53:35.400 --> 00:53:36.700
Phil: Yeah, you don't even...
00:53:36.840 --> 00:53:41.000
Phil: Oh, here's one, 7432 from the United States.
00:53:41.100 --> 00:53:42.680
Phil: That guy is a thief.
00:53:43.320 --> 00:53:44.820
Phil: He is ripping us off.
00:53:45.360 --> 00:53:46.100
Phil: Holy cow.
00:53:47.260 --> 00:53:50.040
Phil: Yeah, it's interesting, but I'm not sure I'd really want one, honestly.
00:53:50.060 --> 00:53:52.100
Phil: Certainly not for that price.
00:53:52.580 --> 00:53:57.240
Phil: No, I find the Xbox controller to be just fine when I'm playing PC games.
00:53:59.100 --> 00:54:03.340
Phil: So anyway, on Steam, they still provide a Steam Link type solution.
00:54:03.400 --> 00:54:10.400
Phil: Basically you can download the Steam app, the Steam Link app for your Android phone.
00:54:10.500 --> 00:54:12.120
Phil: I don't know if it's available on iPhone.
00:54:12.780 --> 00:54:18.740
Phil: And then you can basically just stream from your PC to your smartphone.
00:54:20.340 --> 00:54:26.220
Tom: You should also be able to do that with any sort of tiny media PC as well.
00:54:26.680 --> 00:54:27.560
Phil: Exactly right.
00:54:27.560 --> 00:54:28.780
Phil: So if you had like a...
00:54:29.580 --> 00:54:47.420
Phil: And then if you had, say, let's just say you had like an Android tablet that you can pick up for 300 bucks or something like that, it would have HDMI out, optimally, which you could then plug into a TV and then using a Bluetooth controller, you could effectively have a Steam Link.
00:54:48.500 --> 00:54:57.520
Phil: So, yeah, so I played Death and Taxes with it, which is not a taxing game, so to speak, with touch controls, and it totally worked.
00:54:58.880 --> 00:55:05.680
Tom: It also isn't, in regards to the part, I don't remember taxes actually ever being a part of the game at all.
00:55:07.340 --> 00:55:09.500
Phil: Yeah, now you mention it, that's right.
00:55:10.640 --> 00:55:15.000
Tom: So one half of the title's theme, they just completely ignored.
00:55:15.560 --> 00:55:23.280
Phil: But you did get those coins, okay, and in the Bible, they say the wages of sin is death, which is a pretty good line.
00:55:23.660 --> 00:55:25.960
Tom: Yep, well, it is from the Bible.
00:55:25.980 --> 00:55:28.280
Phil: So the wages of sin are death.
00:55:28.300 --> 00:55:42.840
Phil: Now when we were killing all those people on Death and Taxes, you know, they gave us these coins, much like, you know, the coins that Judas had when he betrayed Jesus, and then, you know, threw away the coins because he was so ashamed.
00:55:43.080 --> 00:55:45.000
Phil: So, maybe there's something there.
00:55:45.020 --> 00:55:46.260
Phil: But back to the Steam link.
00:55:47.840 --> 00:55:50.660
Phil: This is Tom Towers' Reacts to the News section.
00:55:51.220 --> 00:55:52.380
Phil: I'm going to give you a headline.
00:55:52.400 --> 00:55:55.240
Phil: You're going to tell me what you think it means, okay?
00:55:56.240 --> 00:55:56.820
Phil: You ready for this?
00:55:56.900 --> 00:55:57.240
Tom: Yes.
00:55:58.520 --> 00:55:59.520
Phil: Headline number one.
00:56:00.300 --> 00:56:03.920
Phil: Gabe Newell has been in New Zealand for months.
00:56:05.080 --> 00:56:07.820
Tom: I think it means that Gabe Newell has been in New Zealand for months.
00:56:09.600 --> 00:56:11.400
Phil: Now, why do you think Gabe Newell...
00:56:13.180 --> 00:56:25.880
Tom: I think Gabe Newell, but he probably isn't, but I hope he is one of these billionaires building a climate change bunker in New Zealand.
00:56:27.380 --> 00:56:28.320
Phil: Like Kim Dotcom?
00:56:28.720 --> 00:56:29.060
Tom: Yes.
00:56:30.700 --> 00:56:32.620
Tom: Well, I think Kim Dotcom was already there.
00:56:32.640 --> 00:56:34.580
Phil: Yeah, he's a New Zealander.
00:56:34.600 --> 00:56:35.140
Phil: He's a Kiwi.
00:56:35.360 --> 00:56:38.480
Tom: Yeah, so he was already in the bunker.
00:56:39.520 --> 00:56:40.700
Phil: He's already in the bunker.
00:56:41.360 --> 00:56:42.080
Phil: Do you think that...
00:56:42.140 --> 00:56:43.540
Phil: I think that Kim Dotcom...
00:56:43.980 --> 00:56:47.420
Phil: If Gabe Newell and Kim Dotcom had a podcast, I'd at least give it a listen.
00:56:47.680 --> 00:56:50.660
Tom: That would be amazing.
00:56:50.940 --> 00:56:54.400
Phil: I would love to have Kim Dotcom on this podcast as a guest.
00:56:55.540 --> 00:56:57.120
Phil: I think that would baffle him.
00:56:57.220 --> 00:56:58.300
Phil: I think that would be great.
00:56:59.740 --> 00:57:05.260
Tom: I want a podcast of Kim Dotcom, Gabe Newell and Clive Palmer.
00:57:07.320 --> 00:57:09.240
Phil: Oh, good one, good one.
00:57:10.120 --> 00:57:16.100
Phil: I was laughing about Kim Dotcom the other day because I was thinking, you know what infuriates Jeff Gershman?
00:57:17.460 --> 00:57:21.420
Phil: That he didn't change his last name to Dotcom before Kim Dotcom did.
00:57:22.540 --> 00:57:26.180
Phil: If he was Jeff Dotcom, that is totally up his alley.
00:57:26.900 --> 00:57:30.580
Phil: You know, I was listening to his podcast the other day.
00:57:30.600 --> 00:57:36.620
Phil: The guy hates video games, you know, say what you will about us, but this guy hates video games, like very occasionally.
00:57:36.640 --> 00:57:39.940
Tom: He probably doesn't even like films compared to games.
00:57:39.960 --> 00:57:40.860
Tom: He just hates everything.
00:57:41.780 --> 00:57:42.540
Phil: Hates everything.
00:57:42.560 --> 00:57:49.800
Phil: He probably doesn't, wouldn't like Bad Boys, actually, he probably would like Bad Boys Miami Takedown, given his response to 50 Cent Blood in the Sand.
00:57:51.040 --> 00:57:54.500
Phil: I was actually thinking about replaying Warhammer 40,000 the other day.
00:57:55.360 --> 00:57:55.860
Tom: Space Marine.
00:57:55.880 --> 00:57:56.420
Phil: Space Marine.
00:57:56.980 --> 00:57:57.300
Phil: Yeah.
00:57:57.460 --> 00:57:58.680
Phil: Yeah.
00:57:58.760 --> 00:58:01.000
Phil: So Gabe Newell has been in New Zealand for months.
00:58:01.420 --> 00:58:02.920
Phil: The actual story is COVID.
00:58:03.560 --> 00:58:04.540
Phil: He was down there.
00:58:04.560 --> 00:58:12.340
Phil: Now I imagine him going to New Zealand so he can take secret snapshots of where they found Lord of Rings.
00:58:12.360 --> 00:58:16.820
Tom: It's not just a climate change bunker, it's also a coronavirus bunker.
00:58:17.620 --> 00:58:19.900
Phil: Oh, I didn't even pick up that you said climate change.
00:58:19.920 --> 00:58:22.780
Phil: I just, COVID, climate change, all the same thing, you know.
00:58:23.560 --> 00:58:31.060
Tom: You're not familiar with this phenomenon of New Zealand being the escape route from climate change?
00:58:32.300 --> 00:58:34.980
Phil: Well, I've got a top secret thing to tell you.
00:58:35.940 --> 00:58:37.220
Phil: Just don't tell anyone else.
00:58:38.000 --> 00:58:46.100
Phil: But you all know I live on this large compound, this large acreage in a regional part of Australia.
00:58:47.700 --> 00:59:01.740
Phil: One of the owners and the namesake of the largest vitamin companies in Australia a few years ago built a compound on the hill opposite mine with a bunker.
00:59:01.920 --> 00:59:05.160
Phil: This is the top secret part because no one's supposed to know about the bunker.
00:59:06.440 --> 00:59:10.580
Phil: It's all wind power, like it's all, you know, independently powered, the whole thing.
00:59:11.240 --> 00:59:13.040
Phil: And he's never there.
00:59:13.620 --> 00:59:22.680
Phil: But it was basically built because he had bought into this end times thing where like, you know, the world is going to end on this date.
00:59:23.380 --> 00:59:29.960
Phil: And so he came out here and built this bunker with a farm so he'd have a self-sustaining, you know, situation.
00:59:30.740 --> 00:59:33.580
Phil: And obviously that never happened or hasn't happened yet.
00:59:33.880 --> 00:59:40.280
Tom: Why on earth would you choose rural Queensland for your doomsday bunker over New Zealand?
00:59:41.260 --> 00:59:45.980
Phil: Well, we're not saying that it's Queensland or not, it's just a remote regional location.
00:59:47.860 --> 00:59:48.720
Phil: But I think it's because...
00:59:48.740 --> 00:59:53.460
Tom: Well, he's in Australia, regardless, so it's a questionable decision.
00:59:54.380 --> 00:59:59.000
Phil: His primary business is in the same state, so he's probably just a proc...
00:59:59.020 --> 01:00:02.140
Tom: Or the more reason to escape the area.
01:00:03.180 --> 01:00:10.620
Phil: Yeah, it's a proximity thing because if you think about it, when whatever happens happens, he's not going to be able to get a plane to New Zealand, and he still wants to stay here.
01:00:10.800 --> 01:00:12.640
Phil: You know, it's got to be close.
01:00:12.660 --> 01:00:13.800
Tom: I think he's not put...
01:00:13.900 --> 01:00:15.600
Tom: I don't think he's really committed to this.
01:00:16.060 --> 01:00:21.760
Tom: He should be funneling wealth and resources to New Zealand at this stage.
01:00:21.780 --> 01:00:22.260
Phil: He probably has.
01:00:22.620 --> 01:00:26.260
Phil: Probably has, but how do you get to New Zealand when the zombie apocalypse hits?
01:00:26.980 --> 01:00:29.880
Tom: If you can afford a bunker, you can also afford a yacht.
01:00:31.440 --> 01:00:32.120
Phil: Ooh, a yacht.
01:00:32.140 --> 01:00:36.320
Phil: See, I was thinking Qantas 747 piloted by John Travolta.
01:00:38.320 --> 01:00:41.380
Phil: If I'm a crazy rich guy, I've got to get to New Zealand.
01:00:41.820 --> 01:00:49.540
Tom: And you then have the option of flying into a volcano as well, depending on how bad things have gotten.
01:00:50.340 --> 01:00:52.260
Phil: Well, see, now your whole thing's falling apart.
01:00:52.280 --> 01:00:56.900
Phil: You can't have a bunker in a land made of boiling mud and lava.
01:00:56.920 --> 01:01:08.420
Tom: No, you have the option of either flying to the bunker and trying to survive the apocalypse, or if things are really bad, giving up on the bunker and flying into a volcano.
01:01:10.040 --> 01:01:10.420
Phil: Wow.
01:01:11.460 --> 01:01:11.900
Phil: All right.
01:01:12.520 --> 01:01:13.500
Phil: That's a take.
01:01:13.920 --> 01:01:16.340
Phil: So anyway, Gabe Newell has been in New Zealand for months.
01:01:17.380 --> 01:01:18.980
Phil: He got stranded there because of COVID.
01:01:22.700 --> 01:01:23.620
Phil: He hasn't got COVID.
01:01:26.160 --> 01:01:29.620
Phil: But the thing is, remember when Windows 8 came?
01:01:29.620 --> 01:01:32.560
Phil: This is the hypocrisy and I hate to bash on Gabe Newell.
01:01:33.540 --> 01:01:34.980
Phil: He's a much bigger man than I.
01:01:35.320 --> 01:01:41.160
Phil: He used to work at Microsoft, then he went and started Steam or Valve rather.
01:01:41.380 --> 01:01:47.320
Phil: They made a couple of video games and then they started Steam, which is like this video game platform monopoly.
01:01:48.920 --> 01:01:55.620
Phil: Then when Windows 8 came out and Microsoft said, oh yeah, you get all of your apps through the Windows Store.
01:01:56.520 --> 01:02:03.120
Phil: Gabe said that it was a catastrophe and that he was going to, remember when they went all Linux over at Steam?
01:02:03.400 --> 01:02:03.680
Tom: Yeah.
01:02:03.800 --> 01:02:14.520
Phil: They were like, yeah, and Microsoft was evil because they were trying to create this one place where you had to go to get all your apps, and this was the death of computing.
01:02:16.540 --> 01:02:19.380
Phil: And he said, I'm backing Linux, man.
01:02:19.400 --> 01:02:26.300
Phil: And remember the Steam box was going to come out and beat the Xbox, and everything was going to be Linux, and it was going to be great.
01:02:27.160 --> 01:02:32.300
Phil: Well, in another headline, think what you, now I'm going to give you the headline.
01:02:32.320 --> 01:02:33.920
Phil: You tell me what you think it means, okay?
01:02:34.220 --> 01:02:41.240
Tom: Can I just add though, he is indeed correct that getting anything from the Windows Store is something of a disaster.
01:02:42.260 --> 01:02:43.980
Phil: Well, this is Windows Store's 10 now.
01:02:44.000 --> 01:02:44.560
Phil: I mean, this is...
01:02:44.640 --> 01:02:45.940
Tom: And it's still a disaster.
01:02:47.560 --> 01:02:56.680
Phil: He said it was a catastrophe, and that it was basically killing Windows, even though Apple had been doing this for decades and continues to do it.
01:02:58.420 --> 01:03:05.140
Tom: Apple, surprisingly and shockingly, is more functional than the Windows Store.
01:03:06.680 --> 01:03:07.660
Phil: Well, of course it is.
01:03:09.160 --> 01:03:10.460
Phil: It's Microsoft.
01:03:12.400 --> 01:03:18.640
Phil: Okay, Gabe Newell thinks Xbox Series X is better than PlayStation 5.
01:03:19.960 --> 01:03:29.860
Tom: So I understand the hypocrisy of Steam being the major platform, but is the hypocrisy here merely that he planned to beach the Xbox in the past?
01:03:30.900 --> 01:03:31.240
Phil: Yes.
01:03:32.540 --> 01:03:33.960
Phil: It's not really hypocrisy, is it?
01:03:34.820 --> 01:03:35.000
Tom: No.
01:03:35.020 --> 01:03:42.920
Tom: I think the Steam angle of the Steam hegemony would have been a more interesting take on that one.
01:03:43.800 --> 01:03:47.760
Phil: Well, it was an interesting take, and it's still a take, and I can edit all this out.
01:03:49.880 --> 01:03:51.000
Phil: But anyway, he's back in the Xbox.
01:03:51.020 --> 01:03:54.880
Tom: I'm going to give you one more chance to redeem yourself after that.
01:03:55.900 --> 01:03:59.680
Phil: Okay, of the two, I would definitely go with an Xbox, said Gabe Newell.
01:04:00.200 --> 01:04:03.480
Phil: I think, honestly, it just means that he's made peace with his past, really.
01:04:05.620 --> 01:04:07.760
Tom: No, I mean, give me another news story.
01:04:08.080 --> 01:04:09.900
Tom: You have to redeem yourself after that one.
01:04:10.500 --> 01:04:11.900
Phil: Well, there's no other news story.
01:04:11.960 --> 01:04:13.100
Phil: I mean, if you want...
01:04:13.120 --> 01:04:18.180
Phil: Okay, here, I want to know your reaction, not to the headline, but the actual news, because surely you would have heard of this already.
01:04:19.920 --> 01:04:21.900
Phil: You were a big Halo 2 fan.
01:04:22.480 --> 01:04:23.500
Tom: Yes, I was, indeed.
01:04:24.340 --> 01:04:29.300
Phil: Yeah, so have you seen anything about this Halo Infinite at the Xbox Games showcase?
01:04:29.900 --> 01:04:30.400
Tom: Yes.
01:04:30.600 --> 01:04:32.740
Tom: I believe everyone hates it.
01:04:34.360 --> 01:04:35.200
Phil: Everyone hates it.
01:04:35.200 --> 01:04:40.960
Phil: Everyone thinks it's crap, because it's coming out for Xbox One, PC and the new Xbox.
01:04:41.100 --> 01:04:49.680
Tom: Yep, and visually, it technically does look a bit behind the times, to say the least.
01:04:50.080 --> 01:04:56.660
Tom: But I actually thought there were, aesthetically, quite a few interesting things about how it looked.
01:04:56.680 --> 01:05:06.580
Tom: It's very cartoony and vibrant compared to what Halo has been over the years.
01:05:08.040 --> 01:05:16.920
Phil: Okay, so you're actually positive on it, because I'm not big on service games, so I wasn't really that interested in pursuing it.
01:05:18.340 --> 01:05:19.520
Phil: I did enjoy Halo.
01:05:19.880 --> 01:05:24.540
Phil: Halo 5 was a drag, but up to that point, I've really enjoyed Halo as a series.
01:05:24.700 --> 01:05:27.300
Phil: But you think it actually looks pretty good.
01:05:27.620 --> 01:05:28.440
Tom: I think it looked good.
01:05:29.880 --> 01:05:41.140
Tom: I do actually agree, though, that it would be improved with better lighting, and it's a surprise that it does not have any ray tracing in it.
01:05:42.400 --> 01:05:42.800
Phil: It is.
01:05:43.360 --> 01:05:45.600
Phil: But it is early days yet, and...
01:05:46.080 --> 01:05:49.960
Tom: I believe they've already announced that it will have a ray tracing patch at some point.
01:05:50.320 --> 01:05:50.700
Phil: Yeah.
01:05:51.020 --> 01:05:52.360
Phil: I mean, it's early days.
01:05:53.600 --> 01:05:57.080
Phil: I mean, even so, you think Microsoft would have put their best foot forward for...
01:05:57.280 --> 01:06:00.960
Phil: And maybe, you know, to their credit, they didn't do any ball shots, you know, with it.
01:06:01.300 --> 01:06:05.920
Phil: They're actually presenting the game as it is right now, so we'll give them credit for that.
01:06:06.020 --> 01:06:08.660
Phil: But thanks for playing Tom Towers Reacts to the News.
01:06:09.520 --> 01:06:12.300
Phil: I do have important things to say about Crackdown 3.
01:06:12.760 --> 01:06:15.680
Phil: Very important things to say about Crackdown 3.
01:06:15.700 --> 01:06:22.760
Phil: But I was more interested in your final impressions of Metro Exodus from 4A Games.
01:06:23.900 --> 01:06:25.360
Phil: This is Exodus.
01:06:25.420 --> 01:06:38.280
Phil: I mean, the naming of the game has several different meanings because A, you finally leave the subways and go out on the open road in this game, if the articles I've read about it are true.
01:06:38.300 --> 01:06:41.080
Tom: Well, the open tracks anyway.
01:06:42.100 --> 01:06:46.520
Phil: But is it also a departure in any other way?
01:06:46.740 --> 01:06:59.320
Tom: Well, yes, it is a semi-open world game, unlike the first two, which had a very linear structure.
01:06:59.340 --> 01:07:07.000
Tom: The levels obviously had a lot of freedom in how you could approach each area, but it was not a semi-open world structure.
01:07:07.020 --> 01:07:39.980
Tom: Here, in two out of the four main areas in the game, they are essentially small open world sections in the vein of something like Metal Gear Solid V, where you have certain areas that are related to the story that you can go to, as well as bandit bases and monster nests and areas where you might find upgrades and that sort of thing.
01:07:41.140 --> 01:08:10.320
Tom: So that's a big change to how the series worked previously, and even as far as the setting is concerned, because the setting of the Metro system of Moscow, that was a major part of the appeal of the previous two games, so even changing the setting to you going out of the Metro tunnels and into the world is a massive change.
01:08:10.340 --> 01:08:43.540
Tom: They do, of course, integrate a train into this, because you obviously leave the Metro tunnels via a steam engine called the Aurora, which may be a reference to an important Soviet ship, I think it was, I'm not sure, and that's obviously how you travel through the world, and essentially each section of the game that you go through is where the train has stopped due to some reason, that you have to solve before you're able to continue.
01:08:44.080 --> 01:09:00.580
Tom: And the basic theme of the story is, and this is really the only metaphysical element to it, disappointingly, Artyom has dreamt that the world is not dead and there are people on the surface.
01:09:01.140 --> 01:09:04.920
Phil: He's very ready, so Artyom is the lead protagonist, yeah?
01:09:05.340 --> 01:09:25.880
Phil: And so in the novel, which last episode I told you, yeah, yeah, I'm going to totally read that, and turns out that I read years ago before you, so Artyom, in his world, in the Metro world, basically everything on the outside of the world is dead, and that's why everyone's had to retreat into the subways.
01:09:25.900 --> 01:09:47.980
Tom: Yes, there was a nuclear holocaust and winter, and the only known surviving people in the world are those who escaped into the Moscow and Russian, I think it goes beyond Moscow, Metro train system, hence the title, Metro.
01:09:48.520 --> 01:09:49.720
Phil: I really enjoyed that book.
01:09:50.820 --> 01:09:51.440
Tom: It was great.
01:09:51.460 --> 01:09:55.840
Tom: I was genuinely surprised that it was actually good, legitimately good.
01:09:56.580 --> 01:09:57.920
Phil: So sorry to interrupt you there.
01:09:57.920 --> 01:10:01.820
Phil: So he's imagining that people are on the surface.
01:10:01.840 --> 01:10:03.440
Phil: How does that manifest itself in the game?
01:10:03.720 --> 01:10:05.060
Phil: I imagine you shoot them.
01:10:05.640 --> 01:10:06.400
Phil: In his dreams.
01:10:08.680 --> 01:10:10.300
Tom: You don't shoot them in his dreams either.
01:10:10.320 --> 01:10:14.640
Phil: Oh, it's like a video game, it's a shooter, so there's going to be people.
01:10:14.660 --> 01:10:17.540
Tom: Well, you do end up shooting a lot of them once you get to the surface.
01:10:18.040 --> 01:10:19.440
Phil: Okay, good, good, good.
01:10:20.060 --> 01:10:21.180
Tom: But not in his dreams.
01:10:21.540 --> 01:10:23.200
Phil: So there are people on the surface?
01:10:23.220 --> 01:10:23.520
Tom: Yes.
01:10:23.540 --> 01:10:48.780
Tom: It turns out that there are people on the surface and minus spoilers, the reason for this is that the radio signals that have been going around from people on the surface have been deliberately jammed by some of the people in the Metro for protection purposes, essentially.
01:10:49.840 --> 01:10:52.460
Tom: Which is all explained at the very beginning of the game.
01:10:52.460 --> 01:10:59.440
Tom: And so once you end up out of it for a variety of reasons, you can't return.
01:10:59.880 --> 01:11:11.080
Tom: And so you're then essentially travelling through Russia looking for a habitable place to settle down in, essentially.
01:11:12.360 --> 01:11:17.660
Tom: And the way it works structurally is quite interesting.
01:11:17.680 --> 01:11:37.040
Tom: The train, depending on which area you're in, is basically a place where you can go and sleep, and not necessarily sleep, actually, but you can craft items and alter your weapons at it, and the characters that are accompanying you on this journey are there.
01:11:37.220 --> 01:12:03.420
Tom: You can talk to them and accept side quests from them, and as you move from each area, there's an extended cinematic walking slash dialogue conversations between the characters as the train moves from area to area, so that's basically acting as an anchor in the story and also the gameplay.
01:12:04.660 --> 01:12:18.640
Tom: Once you are in the actual areas, and the first two areas, one is the Volga River, and the other is the Caspian Desert, and those are the two main open world sections.
01:12:18.740 --> 01:12:45.480
Tom: The latter levels, one of them appears to be an open area and you are outside, but it is in fact basically linear with the only non-linear aspect of it being how much of the linear area you explore, so to speak, and the final area is a very linear finale, but I'll get to that in a minute.
01:12:46.880 --> 01:13:02.720
Tom: So as I said, the more open areas, there are band bases and monster nests and upgrades that you look for, sort of like in a Metroidvania, except they don't affect how you can progress through an area.
01:13:02.920 --> 01:13:11.680
Tom: There are things like upgrades to your gas mask that affect how many filters it can use, different weapon parts and all that sort of thing.
01:13:13.420 --> 01:13:26.660
Tom: And this means that on the one hand, you don't get the extremely tightly designed levels that you get in Last Light and 2033.
01:13:26.800 --> 01:13:37.380
Tom: There are no sections that are as tightly designed and immediately enjoyable and complex as they are in either of those games.
01:13:37.920 --> 01:14:15.680
Tom: But like Metal Gear Solid, with the banded bases, while they aren't as architecturally interesting or as large as the levels in Last Light and 2033 were, the fact that they're out in the open and that there are things like mutants wandering around near them and that once you get inside, you might have a specific thing you're looking for does allow for quite a lot of creativity and freedom in how you approach getting to whatever you're looking for inside them.
01:14:15.960 --> 01:14:34.340
Tom: So you have to figure out how you want to actually approach getting inside, whether you want to stealthily kill people outside, lure mutants over as a distraction, and then once you're inside, your strategy will obviously change based on what you did outside as well.
01:14:34.760 --> 01:15:01.140
Tom: So, while it's not as complex in a pure stealth or shooting context as the more tightly designed air that main levels of the previous Metro games, it does nevertheless provide a lot of room for creative play like the original games did just in a very different manner.
01:15:01.740 --> 01:15:08.340
Phil: So, with those bandit bases, have you played any of the modern Far Cry games, like from Far Cry 3 on?
01:15:09.240 --> 01:15:09.960
Tom: No I have not.
01:15:10.260 --> 01:15:27.260
Phil: Okay, so like that's one of the tropes of Far Cry is basically you come across these bases and you can distract an animal or throw up an explosion or you can go in stealthfully or you can go in guns blazing to kind of take over the base.
01:15:27.280 --> 01:15:31.040
Phil: I mean, that's the whole purpose of the game basically.
01:15:31.060 --> 01:15:38.480
Phil: You find the towers to reveal the bases, you take over the bases and that advances you to the next level sort of thing.
01:15:38.620 --> 01:15:43.660
Phil: So you're not familiar with that trope?
01:15:44.140 --> 01:15:50.040
Tom: I am familiar with it, yes, but I have not specifically played any of the Far Crys in great detail.
01:15:50.060 --> 01:15:55.560
Tom: That's also similar to Stalker Shadow of Chernobyl and the other Stalker games as well.
01:15:56.860 --> 01:16:09.160
Phil: So, they may have stolen it from that, but just thinking about how this is Metro's first foray into the open world game genre, I just thought maybe that was something they picked up on.
01:16:09.180 --> 01:16:18.720
Phil: And this is topical because even AAA top tier games like Ghost of Tsushima that came out last week use this.
01:16:19.600 --> 01:16:21.640
Phil: It's just become a part of open world games.
01:16:22.140 --> 01:16:25.320
Phil: And I've got to say, I enjoyed it for one game.
01:16:26.120 --> 01:16:33.520
Phil: I enjoyed Far Cry 3 quite a bit, but not enough to actually carry me and my interest forward into Far Cry 4.
01:16:33.540 --> 01:16:36.740
Phil: And it's obviously also something that's done in Assassin's Creed as well.
01:16:37.660 --> 01:16:40.120
Phil: You talk about the different stages.
01:16:40.140 --> 01:16:43.120
Phil: How is it paced?
01:16:43.500 --> 01:16:45.080
Phil: Each level is like how long?
01:16:45.100 --> 01:16:46.880
Phil: Could you talk about that?
01:16:47.020 --> 01:16:48.580
Tom: Well, it depends on what area.
01:16:49.440 --> 01:16:54.340
Tom: The longest is probably the vulgar first area.
01:16:55.980 --> 01:17:00.860
Tom: And then the second longest is the second area, main area, the Caspian.
01:17:02.220 --> 01:17:08.960
Tom: And then the two later areas are probably about half the length of them.
01:17:08.980 --> 01:17:18.860
Tom: So probably if you actually do everything, the first two areas each are probably about four hours or a bit longer in length.
01:17:18.940 --> 01:17:25.400
Tom: And then the latter two main areas are about two hours or so each.
01:17:26.180 --> 01:17:31.280
Tom: And as far as the pacing is concerned, it depends on how you want to do it.
01:17:31.300 --> 01:17:48.120
Tom: So usually what will happen is when you first get into the area, you may need to do a small amount of main story stuff before you go around exploring in detail.
01:17:49.920 --> 01:18:07.060
Tom: But once you've done that, you can then either continue with the main story stuff, which does feature in and of itself more controlled and more standard pacing style gameplay, or you can go and do all the side stuff.
01:18:07.120 --> 01:18:22.420
Tom: And with the exception of the last area, I think the side exploration and band bass style stuff was a lot better than most of the main story gameplay.
01:18:22.640 --> 01:18:34.120
Tom: Just because with them splitting the two, none of the main story missions were as detailed as the best moments in previous Metro games.
01:18:35.120 --> 01:18:43.720
Phil: So Metro has always been an atmospheric game, and it's been like a...
01:18:44.100 --> 01:18:50.200
Phil: Plotting has such a negative connotation, but it's been a determined pace throughout the game.
01:18:50.740 --> 01:18:58.360
Phil: And I imagine that would be refreshing compared to like run and gun, you know, the usual things of a first person shooter.
01:18:59.460 --> 01:19:02.460
Phil: Does that carry over even though they've changed the setting?
01:19:03.160 --> 01:19:03.800
Tom: It does.
01:19:03.820 --> 01:19:08.460
Tom: The only thing that gets in the way of that is the crafting system.
01:19:08.460 --> 01:19:20.640
Tom: So unlike in previous games, now as far as I can remember anyway, now as you are going around exploring, you'll find random bits of crafting material.
01:19:20.740 --> 01:19:23.540
Tom: And there's two types of crafting material.
01:19:23.640 --> 01:19:27.160
Tom: One is chemical and one is metal.
01:19:27.980 --> 01:19:41.000
Tom: So as you're going along, you collect medicine and certain plants for chemical crafting and random bits of metallic detritus for metal based crafting.
01:19:41.020 --> 01:19:44.180
Tom: And certain items use both of those things.
01:19:45.540 --> 01:19:50.680
Tom: This allows you to craft bullets as well as gas mask filters.
01:19:51.160 --> 01:20:08.340
Tom: So essentially, unlike in previous games, you're never really in any danger of running out of either ammo or mask filters as soon as you're able to craft and explore more freely.
01:20:08.360 --> 01:20:19.740
Tom: So basically, once you get out for the first time using the gas mask and you can't craft things, that will never really be much of a pressure.
01:20:20.140 --> 01:20:31.160
Tom: But in terms of the actual gameplay, yes, you still have to absolutely plan how you're going to approach a certain fight and all that sort of thing.
01:20:31.220 --> 01:20:42.360
Tom: And the gunplay is, I would say, even more deliberate and heavier than it was by quite a margin than it was in previous Metro games.
01:20:42.700 --> 01:20:51.140
Tom: And on top of that, the crafting system allows you to customise weapons to completely ridiculous degrees.
01:20:51.460 --> 01:21:26.220
Tom: So you can take the handgun, for instance, and out of a handgun, you can essentially make a silent sniper rifle if you want, a light submachine gun, or a powerful magnum-style revolver, which also allows you, because the gunplay is so deliberate and heavy and so much planning needs to go into your combat, that allows for even more creativity and freedom in how you are playing.
01:21:27.680 --> 01:21:31.660
Phil: This sounds ridiculous, but if you don't like crafting, can you get by?
01:21:31.780 --> 01:21:37.900
Phil: Or, as with the original Metro, crafting is just a part of the game, you're just going to have to deal with it?
01:21:38.120 --> 01:21:43.180
Tom: Well, you can probably get by, because enemies, as long as you're looking for certain...
01:21:43.820 --> 01:21:49.540
Tom: you're looting properly, then enemies will have pretty good guns on and off on them.
01:21:49.540 --> 01:22:02.900
Tom: And indeed, often the best items are from you picking up a gun that is powerful, that you don't have, and then stripping it down once you're able to get to a crafting table.
01:22:03.720 --> 01:22:21.740
Phil: I have one more question before you go back to your oral review, and that is, like, the larger levels in the quote, open world aspect of it, you know, one of the key components of Metro has been this claustrophobic environment, really.
01:22:21.760 --> 01:22:35.360
Phil: I mean, you know, that is one of the hallmarks of the game, and one of the things that I think about the most when I think about the fiction and the game is this claustrophobia, because you're stuck in a tube inside of a train.
01:22:36.620 --> 01:22:52.780
Phil: Does that affect the game at all, or does it somehow, with all of the open world and everything else, does it manage to be consistent with the world that they created in their other games and fiction?
01:22:53.060 --> 01:22:57.600
Tom: I think it certainly manages to feel like it is still in the same world.
01:22:57.620 --> 01:23:21.840
Tom: It is, though you are on made it to the surface, and there are, in fact, other survivors out there, it is not really any less bleak than the Metro, the prior Metro games, so I think it manages to fit the general aesthetic and narrative of the prior games and the novels as well.
01:23:22.140 --> 01:23:36.280
Tom: Except that there is a really noticeable difference in the writing compared to previous games, and this is the first game in which Dmitry Glukhovsky was not involved in some way or other directly with the writing of it.
01:23:36.360 --> 01:23:37.280
Phil: Wow, really?
01:23:37.800 --> 01:23:38.200
Tom: Correct.
01:23:39.100 --> 01:23:40.540
Phil: I mean, well, who knows why?
01:23:40.620 --> 01:23:42.440
Phil: But I mean, like, why?
01:23:42.460 --> 01:23:46.220
Phil: Like, you know, like, obviously there had to have been some sort of...
01:23:46.480 --> 01:23:50.360
Phil: He just didn't want to do it, I guess, but...
01:23:50.380 --> 01:24:00.220
Tom: And I think he's moved on from the novel series as well, so probably he's more interested in dedicating his creativity to other works.
01:24:00.620 --> 01:24:01.680
Phil: Okay, well, good on him.
01:24:01.800 --> 01:24:02.720
Phil: I mean, that's fair.
01:24:03.140 --> 01:24:03.360
Tom: Yep.
01:24:05.340 --> 01:24:24.600
Tom: But in spite of that, one of the most surprising things about the effect that ray tracing had on the game is the difference it makes to the whole colour scheme and feeling of the levels.
01:24:25.400 --> 01:24:55.700
Tom: Because the global illumination of the sun allows for much softer and translucent shadows, it allows for a much more realistic gradiation between colours, which is a completely transformative effect, especially in areas like the Volga, the river area.
01:24:55.920 --> 01:25:19.880
Tom: When you're there, it's snowing and everything is covered in snow, and so there's this amazing contrast between the ice-covered areas of water, the open areas of water that have this really deep blue that if you turn off ray tracing, looks much brighter and more vibrant in a bad way.
01:25:20.380 --> 01:25:32.040
Tom: And it just allows for the colour palettes to come together and complement each other so much better than without ray tracing.
01:25:32.180 --> 01:25:50.540
Tom: And it really results in an amazing aesthetic in the Caspian, in other areas that are less subtle in the colour palettes, like the desert level, and there's also basically a Star Wars Endor level.
01:25:52.320 --> 01:26:00.340
Tom: It doesn't make as much of a difference because the colours are more vibrant to begin with and more contrasting.
01:26:00.360 --> 01:26:10.200
Tom: We've got the bright oranges and that sort of thing in the desert, and very rich greens in the Endor level.
01:26:10.340 --> 01:26:14.040
Tom: But in the Caspian, the effect is just absolutely incredible.
01:26:14.280 --> 01:26:23.080
Tom: And that's not to suggest that the colours in the later areas aren't good, but the Caspian is a huge highlight.
01:26:23.120 --> 01:26:28.480
Tom: And that is one advantage of them going out of the Metro.
01:26:29.040 --> 01:26:37.760
Tom: It does allow, obviously from the previous Metro games, they have an amazing art direction team at 4A Games.
01:26:38.200 --> 01:26:50.880
Tom: And so moving out of Metro allowed them to do some more interesting, or rather some different and creative things that they have not been able to do in previous Metro games.
01:26:51.400 --> 01:26:58.660
Phil: It makes me wonder if the thematic move away from the Metro was why Dimitri stopped contributing to the project.
01:26:58.900 --> 01:27:00.680
Phil: You know, that's all internet drama.
01:27:01.060 --> 01:27:03.480
Phil: You know, it's massive internet drama.
01:27:04.060 --> 01:27:09.360
Tom: Could be, but probably more so just him moving away from the series in general.
01:27:11.340 --> 01:27:13.640
Phil: Yep, so just a general question.
01:27:13.660 --> 01:27:15.540
Phil: I mean, like, you obviously...
01:27:16.160 --> 01:27:17.640
Phil: We love the world of Metro.
01:27:20.000 --> 01:27:25.240
Phil: I don't want to distract you further by bringing in Stalker and all the rest of it, but, like, we love the world of Metro.
01:27:25.380 --> 01:27:28.600
Phil: I mean, is this a Metro game despite the departures?
01:27:29.440 --> 01:27:30.040
Tom: I think so.
01:27:30.540 --> 01:27:35.000
Tom: As I said, it fits in that world perfectly fine.
01:27:36.560 --> 01:27:40.660
Tom: And the gameplay, well, the structure is different.
01:27:41.520 --> 01:27:58.180
Tom: And for the most part, the level design is obviously 50% different because the main story missions do follow somewhat the way that previous Metro games played out.
01:27:59.800 --> 01:28:06.540
Tom: I think it still is very much a Metro in terms of the way you have to approach combat.
01:28:06.900 --> 01:28:24.980
Tom: And though the crafting does let you to really get away with not having to worry about gas masks or ammo to the same degree you did in previous games, you still, to be in that position, have to be making sure you're scouring the area for loot.
01:28:25.520 --> 01:28:45.100
Tom: And things like the gunplay and the much more complex, from what I can recall, the previous Metro, sorry, crafting system, are actually improvements on the Metro style of gameplay.
01:28:45.340 --> 01:28:59.700
Tom: The gunplay in particular, the highlight of the previous Metros to me was always things like the gas guns and the weird sorts of weapons rather than more normal weapons.
01:28:59.780 --> 01:29:08.380
Tom: In Metro Exodus, this is a massive improvement for things like rifles and pistols and shotguns.
01:29:08.400 --> 01:29:13.960
Tom: The shotgun, from what I can remember of previous Metro games, always felt a bit weak and was disappointing.
01:29:14.360 --> 01:29:19.200
Tom: The shotgun in Exodus sounds amazing.
01:29:19.480 --> 01:29:30.540
Tom: The animation, particularly if you're using a double or upgraded to even more barrels version of the shotgun, is just so satisfying.
01:29:31.040 --> 01:29:33.780
Tom: The reloading just fits brilliantly.
01:29:35.520 --> 01:29:40.860
Tom: With it being so powerful, you have to reload it immediately.
01:29:40.900 --> 01:29:45.540
Tom: Also, it's a nice wrinkle into how you have to use it in combat as well.
01:29:46.840 --> 01:29:50.440
Tom: The improvement to the gunplay is really impressive.
01:29:50.480 --> 01:29:58.120
Tom: The weird sorts of weapons like the gas guns and all that sort of thing, they have not lost anything either.
01:29:58.500 --> 01:30:03.960
Tom: It's a significantly better roster of weapons than in previous metros.
01:30:04.020 --> 01:30:27.660
Tom: The basic, determined, slow planning required gameplay, whether you are being more aggressive in shooting or more stealthy, is still there in how you have to approach the open world bandit bases and that sort of thing as well as a lot of the main story missions.
01:30:28.220 --> 01:30:43.380
Tom: In a lot of the main story missions, which is also an interesting change compared to previous metro games, from what I can recall, some of them you need to be as stealthy as possible and not kill anyone or kill as few people as possible.
01:30:46.140 --> 01:30:48.540
Phil: So, I mean, it is still a metro game.
01:30:48.560 --> 01:30:51.740
Phil: A metro fan going into this game is not going to be disappointed.
01:30:52.080 --> 01:30:55.160
Tom: I don't think so, unless they were there purely for the setting.
01:30:57.020 --> 01:30:59.780
Phil: Yeah, but really, I mean, that's not what you're there for.
01:30:59.800 --> 01:31:04.640
Phil: It's more about the atmosphere, the crafting and the gameplay.
01:31:04.700 --> 01:31:06.080
Tom: Yep.
01:31:06.300 --> 01:31:11.220
Tom: The setting is of course a big part of it, but it does manage to be in the same world.
01:31:11.240 --> 01:31:25.060
Tom: Now, one area where there is a change that is very much a result, no doubt of Dmitry Glukhovsky's lack of involvement, is in the story and the theme.
01:31:25.160 --> 01:31:41.800
Tom: So one of the best things about the previous two Metro games was that they managed to include the thematic content of the novel, which was surprisingly a rich book thematically.
01:31:42.440 --> 01:32:11.280
Tom: And that was in the humorous depictions of and cynical depictions of various political ideologies and references to philosophy, as well as in the last slide in particular, making use of the metaphysical solutions to the problems that the political ideologies and philosophies that were referenced had failed to solve.
01:32:12.780 --> 01:32:19.640
Tom: Here, the metaphysics is limited, disappointingly solely basically to Artyom's dreams.
01:32:20.300 --> 01:32:43.900
Tom: And while the story being based around Artyom and Anna's relationship and the attempt essentially to create family in this world is related to themes in the novel, it's not done in a particularly interesting way.
01:32:43.960 --> 01:32:57.880
Tom: And I think one of the biggest issues with it is, which wasn't an issue in the previous two games, where it wasn't a personal story at all, is that Artyom does not speak.
01:32:57.920 --> 01:33:13.140
Tom: He is still a silent protagonist in this game, and that makes the relationship with Anna and the other crew members rather weird and awkward, to say the least.
01:33:13.160 --> 01:33:28.900
Tom: So you're sitting there, for instance, on the train, with your arm around Anna, smoking a cigarette with her, which incidentally is probably not a good idea, given that, as the game goes on, she develops a serious lung problem.
01:33:30.960 --> 01:33:31.220
Tom: But...
01:33:33.120 --> 01:33:40.000
Tom: and she's just talking to you, the player, about how much she loves you and other various things like that.
01:33:41.060 --> 01:33:42.600
Phil: And you're just not responding at all.
01:33:45.820 --> 01:33:57.020
Phil: Look, I'm sending an email to the 4A Games people right now, and it says, you know, hi, I'm the co-host of The Game Under Podcast, Australia's longest-running podcast.
01:33:57.940 --> 01:34:01.960
Phil: Longest-running gaming podcast, we should probably caveat.
01:34:01.980 --> 01:34:05.800
Phil: They were probably the longest-running podcast in Australia at this point.
01:34:08.140 --> 01:34:11.080
Phil: And it's funny, like, we really are at this point.
01:34:11.260 --> 01:34:15.540
Phil: The gaming podcast scene has dried up all over the place.
01:34:17.360 --> 01:34:23.660
Phil: It says, we've talked of your games on many shows favorably, of course, one of which we'll be publishing soon on the topic of Exodus.
01:34:24.140 --> 01:34:30.500
Phil: My co-host, Tom Towers, has a question for you that we'd like to include on the episode after that, which is...
01:34:32.200 --> 01:34:34.020
Tom: Why did Dmitry Glukhovsky...
01:34:35.740 --> 01:34:36.080
Tom: Not...
01:34:36.780 --> 01:34:40.960
Tom: Why did he choose not to be more involved in the writing of Metro Exodus?
01:34:44.160 --> 01:34:45.620
Phil: S-K-Y.
01:34:45.640 --> 01:34:47.060
Phil: And of course I'll answer this.
01:34:49.260 --> 01:34:56.000
Tom: Well, we are a massive outlet on the Australian gaming scene, so they will be wanting our press coverage undoubtedly.
01:34:56.740 --> 01:35:00.860
Phil: Well, it's not a matter of press coverage, it's a matter of, you know, professional courtesy.
01:35:03.120 --> 01:35:05.940
Phil: And on the next podcast, I'll give you the answer.
01:35:05.960 --> 01:35:06.160
Tom: Yes.
01:35:06.740 --> 01:35:18.800
Tom: And so, as I was saying, the story is more personal and really falls flat in that aspect due to the lack of Artyom existing as a character.
01:35:18.820 --> 01:35:39.880
Tom: Now, obviously, he has always provided commentary and spoken in the loading scenes, and that has actually worked somewhat well in commentary on the philosophical and metaphysical things, but in a relationship depiction, it doesn't work so well, because obviously you need the characters to be interacting.
01:35:40.800 --> 01:35:42.640
Tom: So the effect is just weird.
01:35:42.960 --> 01:35:52.400
Tom: And it's a strange decision, because the protagonists in the DLC do speak......bizarrely.
01:35:54.640 --> 01:35:57.580
Tom: So why they chose...
01:35:58.040 --> 01:35:59.420
Tom: That should actually be my question.
01:35:59.560 --> 01:36:05.660
Tom: Why the fuck did Artyom not speak, yet the protagonists in the DLC did?
01:36:05.680 --> 01:36:07.300
Tom: So change my question to that.
01:36:08.940 --> 01:36:10.560
Phil: Well, I'm not going to change that.
01:36:11.620 --> 01:36:14.760
Phil: When they respond, we'll say, OK, we've got a follow up.
01:36:14.800 --> 01:36:15.420
Tom: OK, then.
01:36:16.480 --> 01:36:18.240
Phil: So, all right, I've sent that.
01:36:18.360 --> 01:36:18.980
Phil: It's sent.
01:36:20.220 --> 01:36:25.400
Phil: And honestly, like, there are very few gaming podcasts around Tom.
01:36:26.100 --> 01:36:27.720
Phil: I don't know if you're aware of this.
01:36:29.240 --> 01:36:33.840
Phil: There are not that many gaming podcasts left, really, honestly.
01:36:34.720 --> 01:36:36.920
Phil: And that's probably for good reason.
01:36:38.180 --> 01:36:40.120
Tom: Why Giant Bombshell exists, I don't know.
01:36:41.120 --> 01:36:43.160
Phil: Well, it's a personality driven thing.
01:36:43.160 --> 01:36:45.440
Phil: And they actually have subscribers unlike us.
01:36:45.540 --> 01:36:53.980
Phil: And they also solicit their listeners' feedback and talk about it, which kind of, you know, for feeds the whole thing and keeps the subscription up.
01:36:54.000 --> 01:36:58.480
Tom: Speaking of, while they may have subscribers, we have massive influence.
01:36:59.200 --> 01:37:15.560
Tom: We mentioned Death and Taxes earlier, but not the fact that they had clearly been listening to the show and are adding my suggestion, which is the bar, is now going to become a part of the game that you can actually visit and serves a purpose.
01:37:16.460 --> 01:37:19.040
Phil: So this is not a trivial thing, listeners.
01:37:20.100 --> 01:37:21.920
Phil: This game is not in beta.
01:37:21.920 --> 01:37:22.760
Phil: It's not in alpha.
01:37:22.780 --> 01:37:28.580
Phil: The game has been released, and me and Tom talked about this feature of a game that should be included.
01:37:28.620 --> 01:37:34.840
Phil: I had contacted the developers of the game prior to the podcast and let them know that we'd be doing a show.
01:37:35.640 --> 01:37:44.520
Phil: They didn't send me a free code that I would have forwarded to you, unfortunately, but they were aware that we were going to be talking about the show.
01:37:44.540 --> 01:37:45.760
Phil: I sent them a link to the show.
01:37:46.240 --> 01:37:48.860
Phil: And then, you just want to say what you said again?
01:37:48.880 --> 01:37:50.560
Phil: Just want to elaborate on that?
01:37:50.580 --> 01:37:59.820
Tom: Well, I, in my impressions, commented on the fact that the bar was a floor which you could go past, yet not actually visit.
01:38:00.380 --> 01:38:10.240
Tom: And that was bizarre, and it should clearly have been a feature in the game to add a bit of narrative colour and also perhaps serve some sort of gameplay purpose.
01:38:11.120 --> 01:38:14.880
Phil: Right, and this week they announced that they're going to go back to this finished game.
01:38:15.900 --> 01:38:22.440
Phil: This game that they've moved on from, you know, doing another thing on Death in Texas 2, which is, you know, basically like God of War.
01:38:23.220 --> 01:38:27.360
Phil: A third person action game.
01:38:27.960 --> 01:38:33.220
Phil: And yeah, they're going to actually include that bar section for free, for us to download.
01:38:34.160 --> 01:38:37.840
Tom: So, future players of the game can thank us for that.
01:38:38.580 --> 01:38:42.140
Phil: Yeah, thank us, and we will receive no thanks, as usual.
01:38:42.160 --> 01:38:44.420
Tom: Of course, and not even any subscribers.
01:38:47.200 --> 01:38:48.740
Phil: But anyway, back to Exodus.
01:38:48.940 --> 01:38:52.500
Tom: So, I was talking about how the story is more personal.
01:38:52.600 --> 01:38:55.160
Tom: There was a lack of metaphysical themes.
01:38:55.780 --> 01:39:14.440
Tom: They do still include some degree of political and philosophical commentary, but instead of an interesting, cynical take on specific political ideologies, all we get is $2 store hobs.
01:39:14.540 --> 01:39:30.160
Tom: So, essentially, the desert level is Mad Max, and the commentary on post-apocalyptic bandit introduction is no more interesting than the state of nature's war of all against all.
01:39:31.920 --> 01:39:53.240
Tom: When they do attempt to take it in maybe a slightly more interesting direction, we get the even dumber, because at least the state of nature war against all, war of all against all, has some degree of substance to it in terms of political realism.
01:39:54.040 --> 01:40:17.000
Tom: The level set in Endor features two groups of people who were camping on a pioneer camp trip, which pioneers are basically the Soviet version of the Hitler Youth or the American Scouts.
01:40:17.020 --> 01:40:20.260
Tom: Same thing.
01:40:20.280 --> 01:40:29.160
Tom: That was my point, and they were camping here when the apocalyptic nuclear war hit.
01:40:29.780 --> 01:40:34.920
Tom: They survived though, and they split into two different groups.
01:40:35.140 --> 01:40:46.420
Tom: One group became pirates and one group became pioneers, and both were attempting to follow the teaching of their pioneer leader.
01:40:47.420 --> 01:41:05.980
Tom: It's essentially a sort of Lord of the Flies version of events, though basically just a Lord of the Flies version of events, except that one side was able to remain less brutalized than the other side.
01:41:06.260 --> 01:41:26.240
Tom: But when you're going from the postmodern, cynical take on political ideologies to Hobbesian war of all against all in a state of nature, that's a bad enough step into the murk of shite.
01:41:26.640 --> 01:41:37.520
Tom: When you go into fucking Lord of the Flies fan fiction, from such lofty heights, I don't know what the hell you're doing.
01:41:40.300 --> 01:41:42.080
Tom: So that was very disappointing.
01:41:42.100 --> 01:41:52.840
Tom: But, and I also played the DLC, and I have to mention the DLC, because one of the DLCs is essentially part of the main game's story.
01:41:53.020 --> 01:42:02.700
Tom: And I think greatly improves on how the story ends in the actual game, and should be part of the game.
01:42:02.920 --> 01:42:06.600
Tom: Luckily, it is the cheap DLC.
01:42:06.620 --> 01:42:08.360
Tom: It's only like $8 or something.
01:42:08.860 --> 01:42:15.020
Tom: So at least you don't have to pay a lot of money to experience the end of the game properly.
01:42:15.340 --> 01:42:20.320
Tom: But essentially, and we're now going to get into spoiler territory.
01:42:21.380 --> 01:42:23.780
Tom: So actually I will say a little bit more about the DLC before I do.
01:42:24.260 --> 01:42:43.720
Tom: So the two kernels DLC you play as a kernel in the Metro because part of the game does eventually go back to the Metro, which is clearly you would expect to happen at some point in the game.
01:42:43.740 --> 01:42:45.440
Tom: So I don't think that's too much of a spoiler.
01:42:48.200 --> 01:43:06.320
Tom: What you're doing as that character is concurrent to events that you're doing as Artyom in the main game, and it's also simultaneous with flashbacks to what was going on in that part of the Metro earlier on.
01:43:06.940 --> 01:43:28.280
Tom: And the other DLC Sam's Story is basically an epilogue for one of the characters that accompanies you, and that is more like a full level of the main game in terms of the open world levels, except it's a bit more linear than they are.
01:43:28.780 --> 01:43:49.040
Tom: So that's the more expensive one that is like $20 or something like that, but that is a good five hours or much more than five hours, probably eight to ten hours or longer, depending on how thorough you are in your exploration and collecting of things.
01:43:49.480 --> 01:43:52.660
Tom: So that's pretty impressive for a DLC.
01:43:52.680 --> 01:43:55.700
Tom: That's basically half the length of the main game.
01:43:56.300 --> 01:44:06.860
Tom: And you are going through, I think, a dock area at Vladivostok and the surrounding buildings near there.
01:44:08.180 --> 01:44:17.920
Tom: And that reminds me, I should also add another interesting mechanic that they added to the game, to exploration, is a lot of the time as you're exploring, you'll actually be on a boat.
01:44:19.060 --> 01:44:24.560
Tom: And the way you control the boat is very rudimentary, just moving forwards, backwards and sideways.
01:44:25.140 --> 01:44:38.380
Tom: But it does add, I think, to the atmosphere and the otherworldly feeling of it, particularly after you've gone out of the drudgery and darkness of Metro.
01:44:38.620 --> 01:44:43.440
Tom: It's a very surreal contrast to the previous games.
01:44:43.540 --> 01:44:49.100
Tom: The fact that you spend a lot of the time in a boat, that applies to both the DLC and the main game.
01:44:49.500 --> 01:45:06.640
Tom: And the other interesting thing about Sam's story DLC is the tone of humour is very tongue-in-chic and very Russian in its combination of dark humour and absurdity.
01:45:07.580 --> 01:45:14.880
Tom: And again, with Sam talking, allows for some very amusing moments in terms of the story.
01:45:15.540 --> 01:45:24.300
Tom: And the gameplay as well, it's more limited than the main game, but it is also less stealth-based.
01:45:24.460 --> 01:45:34.820
Tom: And you don't need to not kill anyone at any point in the game, so you can approach things much more aggressively than in the main game for the most part.
01:45:34.840 --> 01:45:43.660
Tom: So it's an opportunity to enjoy the much improved standard ballistics weapons.
01:45:45.980 --> 01:46:04.200
Tom: So now we will have to go into story territory, and as I said, you return at the end of the game to the Metro, and we won't go into too much detail, so the spoilers won't be too bad, but it is an amazing finale.
01:46:04.860 --> 01:46:24.720
Tom: From after you have been exploring the world, returning to the Metro feels simultaneously nice, because you return to something that's been in the previous games, but it is all the more horrific, both due to the part of the Metro that you were exploring being filled with corpses.
01:46:24.780 --> 01:46:26.200
Tom: There's some amazing imagery.
01:46:26.240 --> 01:46:36.900
Tom: At one point, for instance, you are crawling through a carriage of a train with all the seats filled with corpses and things like that.
01:46:37.300 --> 01:46:52.880
Tom: So it's a wonderful contrast between the world that you've been exploring that seems tremendously bleak and is a constant disappointment to the characters who have been trying to find a nice place to settle.
01:46:52.900 --> 01:47:06.480
Tom: When you return to that, you really get the feeling that even in spite of how bad things may be, the Metro was really a very bad place to be in the first place.
01:47:06.500 --> 01:47:09.200
Tom: So it's an amazing contrast in that sense.
01:47:09.320 --> 01:47:37.860
Tom: And for the disappointment in terms of the tightness of the design of previous story sections in the game compared to previous games, while the return to the Metro is not as complicated in terms of gameplay in regards to stealth and combat, the previous games were, in terms of pacing, it is probably their best achievement by far.
01:47:39.040 --> 01:47:44.880
Tom: The way they foreshadow things and build up to stuff you get into is amazing.
01:47:45.200 --> 01:47:57.860
Tom: And the last few moments, which do actually have some interesting stealth sections, are built up amazingly with the tension of what's happening in the narrative.
01:47:58.600 --> 01:48:06.080
Tom: And also, we also do get a few more metaphysical snippets here, albeit they're not thematically interesting.
01:48:06.300 --> 01:48:12.860
Tom: They really add to the atmosphere and the horror of the area you're trying to get to.
01:48:13.300 --> 01:48:23.100
Tom: And the final stealth sections, you are up against probably the toughest enemies in any of the prior Metro games.
01:48:23.440 --> 01:48:34.920
Tom: And if you get noticed by any of them, if you want to fight them, then you will actually be in danger for the first time in the game of running out of ammo.
01:48:36.740 --> 01:48:41.780
Phil: Okay, well now my question is, like, obviously the return to the Metro is a...
01:48:43.080 --> 01:48:46.220
Phil: is obviously, you know, it's needed in a game like this.
01:48:47.940 --> 01:48:52.560
Phil: And it's also a reward and it's a give back to the player.
01:48:54.000 --> 01:48:55.620
Phil: Is it a shorter level?
01:48:55.780 --> 01:48:58.720
Phil: Like, is it a much shorter level than the rest of them?
01:48:58.740 --> 01:49:02.880
Tom: It's as long as the other less open world areas.
01:49:03.080 --> 01:49:11.160
Tom: So, as I said, the first two open world areas are probably five hours long.
01:49:11.180 --> 01:49:15.600
Tom: I said that, but actually they could go longer than that, depending on how much time you spend in them.
01:49:17.100 --> 01:49:23.060
Tom: Then you have, and this is not including, there are interstitial levels as well, but these are the main sections.
01:49:23.080 --> 01:49:27.400
Tom: Then you have the Endor level, which is about two and a half hours.
01:49:27.980 --> 01:49:32.240
Tom: And then you have this Metro level, and that is also about two and a half hours.
01:49:32.560 --> 01:49:40.840
Tom: So it's half the length or so of the main open world areas, but the same length as the long non-open world area.
01:49:41.760 --> 01:49:43.880
Phil: Do you think perhaps that's too long?
01:49:43.900 --> 01:49:53.860
Phil: I mean, because I would have, if I was doing the pacing for that, it would have been, I want to give the player wanting more when you've given them that little...
01:49:53.880 --> 01:49:56.180
Tom: Do you mean the overall game or the ending?
01:49:56.300 --> 01:49:58.380
Phil: No, no, no, the Metro level.
01:49:58.400 --> 01:50:13.160
Tom: Not at all, no, because it goes through several different areas in the Metro, so you have a variety of different styles to explore.
01:50:13.180 --> 01:50:26.180
Tom: So, for instance, one area is completely flooded and you spend a lot of the time navigating a boat through it and then stopping on and off to do various things.
01:50:26.820 --> 01:50:33.820
Tom: And another area is an abandoned area in which people previously lived.
01:50:34.620 --> 01:50:38.100
Tom: So there's a variety of areas in it.
01:50:38.120 --> 01:50:43.000
Tom: It's not like it is just the one tone through which you're going through.
01:50:43.020 --> 01:50:45.940
Phil: Okay, all right, fair enough.
01:50:48.080 --> 01:51:21.840
Tom: And so the two kernels, as I was saying, is actually basically what's happening in the story there is you're trying to find a treatment for Anna's aforementioned lung condition, which was not caused by her chain smoking, but by, this is what they claim anyway, by contamination from a chemical or nuclear or radioactive based thing that she's exposed to earlier on in the story.
01:51:21.860 --> 01:51:26.500
Tom: But my money is on the chain smoking, but that's neither here nor there.
01:51:28.400 --> 01:51:33.820
Tom: And you're going there with the Colonel, who is her father and your father-in-law.
01:51:34.320 --> 01:51:50.280
Tom: And as you're going along, you're exploring two different sections of the Metro and he's trying to get a map, which will hopefully take you to a area that may be inhabitable in the last place.
01:51:50.440 --> 01:52:08.680
Tom: You're going to try that might match Artyom's dream and you are going to eventually attempt to get to a hospital to find the treatment for her lung cancer or other unknown, supposedly different lung condition.
01:52:09.680 --> 01:52:35.360
Tom: But I should also add, and another great thing about that section is that it begins with you on the street in Moscow Outdoors, which is a brilliant place to explore and also one of the few places in the game that have interesting journal entries that really add to the backstory and the setting and atmosphere.
01:52:36.780 --> 01:52:51.240
Tom: And in the Two Kernels DLC, you're not playing as the kernel, but as another kernel, who is the father of a character that you meet in the Metro that Artyom is in.
01:52:52.740 --> 01:52:56.380
Tom: And he eventually joins you, the son, and goes on the train.
01:52:56.400 --> 01:53:15.560
Tom: In the DLC, you're playing as his father, who is also a kernel, and the story basically follows how the people that were living in their society was destroyed and thus all the corpses that you were encountering as you were going through it.
01:53:16.140 --> 01:53:41.980
Tom: And it is, this is where the personal aspect of the writing shows that there was a lot of potential if Artyom had been able to talk to people because the relationship between Artyom, not Artyom, sorry, between the kernel and Anna and between this kernel and his son is really well done and very interesting.
01:53:42.040 --> 01:53:47.040
Tom: And it ends up making the main story of the main game more interesting.
01:53:47.180 --> 01:54:13.560
Tom: Having a, while you're not playing as the kernel, this is Artyom's kernel in the game, as you are moving through the Metro, you get cut scenes where he is commenting on things and addressing things that have happened in the main story and what his motivations and justifications were for jamming the signal of the outside world and that sort of thing.
01:54:13.860 --> 01:54:31.020
Tom: So it really shows that without Glukhovsky, they were perfectly capable of writing an interesting personal story in a way that they weren't in tackling the philosophical and political and metaphysical themes without him.
01:54:33.360 --> 01:54:47.400
Tom: And it simultaneously adds to the disappointment that Artyom did not speak in the main game, but also makes the main game story worthwhile because the Colonel is a major character and an important part of it.
01:54:47.700 --> 01:55:01.220
Tom: But because he's separated from the action a lot of the time, he is not in it enough to really bring any of the personal themes home as far as family is concerned.
01:55:01.240 --> 01:55:02.000
Tom: And that sort of thing.
01:55:02.300 --> 01:55:18.320
Tom: Whereas his appearances in this DLC is in much more depth and manages to, I think, salvage the story of the main game and make it worth experiencing in spite of its failures.
01:55:18.980 --> 01:55:27.320
Tom: And the one other thing that should be noted about the DLC that is interesting is it's completely different in terms of gameplay.
01:55:27.360 --> 01:55:33.920
Tom: It's very much more narrative focused and the gameplay is much simpler.
01:55:33.940 --> 01:55:51.380
Tom: You're essentially moving through the silvery, partially flooded sections of the Metro, returning on the water filtering system and dealing with the large worm infestations with a flamethrower.
01:55:51.400 --> 01:55:54.360
Tom: And that's the only weapon throughout the entire game.
01:55:56.580 --> 01:56:00.720
Phil: Okay, well, that's, I would think that's a negative.
01:56:01.540 --> 01:56:04.620
Tom: I don't think it is, because it is only like two hours long.
01:56:05.200 --> 01:56:09.760
Tom: And it's basically a complement to the game, to the main game.
01:56:09.780 --> 01:56:18.200
Tom: It feels genuinely like a part of the actual game, rather than a DLC, whereas Sam's story is very disconnected from the actual game.
01:56:19.260 --> 01:56:29.940
Tom: This feels like a part of the main game, and it's a two-hour section than essentially in what is a 15-hour-plus game.
01:56:31.840 --> 01:56:40.120
Phil: So before we break out the die of judgement on this game, it sounds like you've got pretty favourable impressions.
01:56:40.120 --> 01:56:45.300
Phil: Is there anything else that we need to discuss before you give it its final score?
01:56:45.320 --> 01:56:56.440
Tom: I do have able impressions, and the one other thing to mention is just aesthetically, the Vladivostok of Sam's story is...
01:56:57.280 --> 01:57:16.760
Tom: Parts of it are really disappointing, and other parts have, again, kind of like the Volga in the main game, a really interesting muted palette that with ray tracing is allowed to have fine and detailed contrast between colours, which result in something that looks really good.
01:57:17.300 --> 01:57:39.420
Tom: But other parts are very much in the enslaved vein of generic grass and vegetation growing everywhere, seaside, dilapidated city, which is a look that basically only enslaved has pulled off in a game that I can think of pretty much.
01:57:39.840 --> 01:57:53.340
Tom: Every other game I've played has the problem of this, which is the color palette is too red and too extreme in its contrasts.
01:57:55.260 --> 01:58:05.440
Tom: I think if you compare enslaved and animations or paintings with similar sort of settings, they never have such extreme contrasts.
01:58:05.560 --> 01:58:11.840
Tom: And the result is just something that looks uglier than is intended, let's put it that way.
01:58:12.860 --> 01:58:23.800
Tom: The other interesting thing about it aesthetically is it's a color palette that is not dissimilar except done in a different setting and to a different successful effect in Stalker.
01:58:24.360 --> 01:58:40.040
Tom: And one can't help but think that this was partially inspired by Stalker, particularly when you consider that in the main game, in your exploration, there are elements of Stalker that are there, like in the Volga.
01:58:41.300 --> 01:58:47.360
Tom: You have anomalies and weird things like that that you encounter and that can kill you.
01:58:49.580 --> 01:58:58.260
Phil: It sounds to me, while you get your Diab judgment note ready, that you are a raytrace convert.
01:58:58.620 --> 01:58:59.820
Phil: You're a big proponent of it.
01:58:59.840 --> 01:59:02.360
Phil: Do you think raytracing is the future?
01:59:03.060 --> 01:59:03.700
Tom: I think it is.
01:59:03.720 --> 01:59:06.720
Tom: It will obviously, without question, be the future.
01:59:07.580 --> 01:59:25.180
Tom: I think it justifies itself as an aesthetic tool for unexpected reasons, such as its effect on colour, which I haven't seen mentioned anywhere, but it really does make a difference.
01:59:25.260 --> 01:59:38.400
Tom: And another area that I have seen it mentioned elsewhere, though, is the effect that it has in how level of detail comes across and how textures end up looking as well.
01:59:38.440 --> 01:59:56.080
Tom: So while people poo poo it because it obviously does not have much of an effect on gameplay, it is a transformative thing in terms of how games look, not just in terms of realism.
01:59:56.080 --> 02:00:00.080
Tom: My first impressions were on the completely different.
02:00:00.280 --> 02:00:08.820
Tom: I think that's a different way your mind interprets it, because it has some semblance of simulating the way light behaves when you have global illumination on.
02:00:09.060 --> 02:00:30.660
Tom: I think the thing that really ends up sticking with you isn't that, so much as the effect it has on the aesthetics of a game, the way it allows for subtler changes in color, gradiation, through shadows and things like that, as well as the effects that it has on textures.
02:00:30.680 --> 02:00:49.440
Tom: Because obviously having better shadows, as well as more realistic light refraction, will affect the details of certain textures and allow for them to appear to be more detailed, even though the actual level of detail isn't changing.
02:00:51.420 --> 02:01:12.020
Phil: Yeah, I mean, for people to say, oh, it doesn't have that much effect, I mean, I'm assuming that most of the people that decry ray tracing as an inferior technology or a mediocre incremental step in technology don't have it and they're just purpooing it because they don't have it.
02:01:12.980 --> 02:01:24.020
Tom: And simultaneously, the game that got the most shat on at the recent Xbox event or E3 or whatever it was, was the game that conspicuously did not have ray tracing.
02:01:24.940 --> 02:01:25.700
Tom: Halo Infinite.
02:01:25.840 --> 02:01:27.660
Phil: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:01:27.800 --> 02:01:29.720
Phil: I mean, I love my computer.
02:01:29.740 --> 02:01:31.240
Phil: We'll talk about this on the next show.
02:01:31.260 --> 02:01:39.740
Phil: I did some upgrades to my PC, but obviously I don't think I'll be able to upgrade this one so that it's ray tracing compatible.
02:01:41.660 --> 02:01:46.880
Tom: And you should wait until the next gen of ray tracing cards are released.
02:01:47.800 --> 02:01:50.740
Phil: Well, that's just it because you're on the bleeding edge of it.
02:01:51.140 --> 02:01:54.480
Phil: You really jumped in at the start of it, really.
02:01:56.440 --> 02:01:57.500
Phil: Is that incorrect?
02:01:57.520 --> 02:01:58.780
Tom: That is absolutely correct.
02:01:59.480 --> 02:02:01.000
Phil: Yeah, but I just love it.
02:02:01.020 --> 02:02:16.980
Phil: I love the fact that you're enjoying it, and it's been great that you've got this new PC and also the Xbox Game Pass has been able to enable you to play so many games, much like Crackdown 3, which is available on Game Pass.
02:02:17.060 --> 02:02:23.360
Tom: It even enabled me to play Metro Exodus until it disabled me from playing Metro Exodus.
02:02:24.240 --> 02:02:24.860
Phil: Why is that?
02:02:25.860 --> 02:02:27.380
Tom: We've been through this, I believe.
02:02:27.400 --> 02:02:28.060
Phil: Yeah, I know.
02:02:28.080 --> 02:02:29.780
Phil: All right, that was an hour ago.
02:02:29.800 --> 02:02:30.800
Phil: Come on, give me a break.
02:02:31.300 --> 02:02:34.820
Phil: All right, so are you ready to give this game a definitive score?
02:02:34.840 --> 02:02:35.160
Phil: Yes, I am.
02:02:35.180 --> 02:02:36.180
Phil: Okay, break out the die.
02:02:36.200 --> 02:02:36.880
Tom: I've got it here.
02:02:36.900 --> 02:02:37.600
Tom: Ready to go.
02:02:38.160 --> 02:02:38.740
Phil: Here we go.
02:02:38.760 --> 02:02:50.260
Phil: Now, I think based on what I've heard from you, you would give this game a 7.5 or possibly even an 8 if you were not using the Die of Judgment.
02:02:50.920 --> 02:02:53.660
Phil: But what does the Die of Judgment have to say?
02:02:53.680 --> 02:02:59.120
Tom: The Die of Judgment, unfortunately, gives it a 5 out of 10.
02:02:59.940 --> 02:03:06.940
Phil: Now, it gives it a 5 out of 10, but as a reviewer, you are able to apply tilt to the Die of Judgment.
02:03:07.380 --> 02:03:13.160
Phil: Would I be correct in that you would add a 2.5 tilt to 3?
02:03:15.140 --> 02:03:20.680
Tom: 2.5 tilt would be to 7.5, I believe, mathematically speaking.
02:03:21.240 --> 02:03:22.440
Phil: Yeah, and that's what I'm saying.
02:03:22.900 --> 02:03:25.800
Phil: Your description of the game, I thought, was a 7.5 to 8.
02:03:26.240 --> 02:03:36.600
Tom: I think, did I end up giving Metro 2033 or last line, I think they were both 8s, possibly.
02:03:37.280 --> 02:03:41.540
Tom: So this would be beneath them and would probably be a 7.5.
02:03:41.560 --> 02:03:45.240
Phil: Okay, but still enjoyable and definitely worth a play.
02:03:45.260 --> 02:03:56.080
Tom: Absolutely, and Gargan and I as well, him seriously, me ironically, have called the Metro games Stalker Lite.
02:03:56.660 --> 02:04:23.260
Tom: This is the first Metro that genuinely is Stalker Lite, and that is a compliment in the sense that all of the gunplay now is incredible and approaching Stalker in terms of the crafting and enjoyment of the shooting, certainly on the same level with approaching it, and the same applies to the exploration elements in the Volga and the Caspian.
02:04:25.000 --> 02:04:25.500
Phil: Excellent.
02:04:25.540 --> 02:04:29.120
Phil: Well, thank you very much for your oral review of Metro Exodus.
02:04:29.140 --> 02:04:33.060
Phil: It's available on pretty much every platform except for Switch, I think.
02:04:34.240 --> 02:04:37.700
Tom: But Metro Redux is available on Switch, I believe.
02:04:38.640 --> 02:04:41.720
Phil: Yeah, so in any case, it's well worth picking up.
02:04:41.740 --> 02:04:51.420
Phil: The people at 4A Games, it's 1 o'clock, or it's 12.30 in the afternoon on Friday when I sent them that email, so hopefully they'll respond.
02:04:51.440 --> 02:04:52.380
Phil: I know they'll respond.
02:04:52.660 --> 02:04:54.000
Tom: Probably by the end of the day.
02:04:54.020 --> 02:04:56.240
Phil: Yeah, I'd say so.
02:04:56.380 --> 02:05:02.860
Phil: But if that's it for you, I'd just like to thank you for listening to our listeners to episode 128.
02:05:02.880 --> 02:05:09.880
Tom: It's not low because I just realised we forgot to give scores to Minecraft Dungeons.
02:05:10.800 --> 02:05:14.220
Tom: And Beat Cop, was there a third game that I finished, or was that it?
02:05:14.540 --> 02:05:17.160
Tom: Oh, and Sky, Children of Light, the new season.
02:05:17.160 --> 02:05:18.460
Phil: No, no, no.
02:05:18.820 --> 02:05:21.640
Tom: So if he is the first dice roll, which game is it for?
02:05:21.800 --> 02:05:22.540
Tom: I'll ask you.
02:05:23.380 --> 02:05:23.920
Phil: Beat Cop.
02:05:27.660 --> 02:05:30.260
Tom: Another, no, not another, three out of ten.
02:05:30.280 --> 02:05:33.440
Phil: I'd acquit, I'd agree with that score.
02:05:33.560 --> 02:05:35.160
Tom: I would give it a lot higher than that.
02:05:35.860 --> 02:05:37.080
Phil: Sky, Children of Light.
02:05:38.560 --> 02:05:39.940
Tom: A four out of ten.
02:05:40.640 --> 02:05:42.460
Phil: I disagree vehemently with that.
02:05:43.060 --> 02:05:45.460
Tom: And what was the third game, Minecraft Dungeons?
02:05:47.920 --> 02:05:49.080
Tom: A five out of ten.
02:05:51.160 --> 02:05:51.620
Phil: Die is...
02:05:51.920 --> 02:05:53.860
Tom: Die has not been kind today.
02:05:54.580 --> 02:05:55.340
Phil: No, it hasn't.
02:05:56.020 --> 02:05:59.700
Phil: Maybe next time around in episode 129 it will be good.
02:05:59.720 --> 02:06:03.420
Phil: Thank you for listening to episode 128 of The Game Under Podcast.
02:06:03.440 --> 02:06:09.760
Phil: Please visit gameunder.net to read Tom and my reviews, articles and commentary.
02:06:09.780 --> 02:06:12.900
Phil: I don't know if you saw the last sad article that I put up.
02:06:13.060 --> 02:06:14.440
Tom: I did indeed, actually.
02:06:15.380 --> 02:06:16.320
Tom: And I commented.
02:06:17.320 --> 02:06:17.820
Phil: Oh, really?
02:06:19.160 --> 02:06:20.200
Phil: I wasn't notified.
02:06:21.440 --> 02:06:23.540
Tom: I'll give you my comment live on air.
02:06:26.620 --> 02:06:27.460
Phil: I'm listening.
02:06:27.660 --> 02:06:30.460
Tom: It has to go to the site.
02:06:30.480 --> 02:06:32.200
Phil: Oh, you have to go read your comment.
02:06:32.480 --> 02:06:37.640
Phil: So Tom's going to gameunder.net, just like you can, and read about...
02:06:37.660 --> 02:06:41.220
Phil: I played the original SimCity back in the day.
02:06:42.040 --> 02:06:43.200
Phil: So what was your comment, Mr.
02:06:43.220 --> 02:06:43.380
Phil: Towers?
02:06:43.400 --> 02:06:54.040
Tom: My comment was, the next time you come back to it, you're going to be even more embarrassed, discovering a naivete that did not, not know the current inhibitors, but internalise them.
02:06:54.480 --> 02:06:58.660
Tom: Which is to say, what a terrible decision it was to delete Phallus Island.
02:07:01.820 --> 02:07:03.420
Phil: Ah, you always end with a bang.
02:07:03.460 --> 02:07:04.120
Phil: That's good.
02:07:04.340 --> 02:07:05.860
Phil: I love it.
02:07:06.100 --> 02:07:07.520
Tom: Just as Phallus Island did.
02:07:10.780 --> 02:07:15.380
Phil: So go to gameunder.net, read my last sad story about SimCity.
02:07:15.800 --> 02:07:22.020
Phil: SimCity, the original, actually, that I wrote a few years ago when I was without internet.
02:07:22.940 --> 02:07:26.660
Phil: And I wrote that in notepad, believe it or not, because I had no internet.
02:07:27.320 --> 02:07:30.780
Phil: You can also listen to us on stitcher.com and soon Spotify.
02:07:31.260 --> 02:07:35.600
Phil: And please leave us a positive review on your podcasting platform of choice.
02:07:36.200 --> 02:07:39.040
Phil: It helps others to find our podcast.
02:07:39.240 --> 02:07:44.080
Phil: You can follow us on Twitter at Game Under Phil, and you've taken over that Twitter account.
02:07:44.100 --> 02:07:46.740
Phil: Have you done anything with Game Under Phil at Twitter?
02:07:47.240 --> 02:07:48.340
Tom: Have I taken it over?
02:07:49.140 --> 02:07:50.020
Phil: Yeah, well, you did.
02:07:50.040 --> 02:07:50.600
Phil: You said.
02:07:50.620 --> 02:07:51.640
Phil: I gave you the password.
02:07:51.660 --> 02:07:55.380
Tom: Well, I posted a Metro Exodus video on social distancing.
02:07:56.940 --> 02:07:57.420
Phil: Okay.
02:07:57.460 --> 02:07:58.660
Phil: Did you get any responses?
02:07:59.080 --> 02:07:59.740
Tom: Of course not.
02:08:00.600 --> 02:08:01.440
Phil: Well, come on.
02:08:01.880 --> 02:08:04.660
Phil: You're in charge of Game Under Phil at twitter.com.
02:08:05.780 --> 02:08:08.440
Phil: You're the champ at these pithy comments.
02:08:08.440 --> 02:08:10.360
Phil: Twitter is a platform designed for you.
02:08:11.060 --> 02:08:14.080
Phil: But thanks everyone for listening to episode 128.
02:08:14.160 --> 02:08:15.100
Phil: I am Tom Towers.
02:08:15.660 --> 02:08:18.540
Tom: I am Phil Fogg on Twitter, apparently.
02:08:19.540 --> 02:08:21.440
Phil: You are Game Under Phil on Twitter.
02:08:21.460 --> 02:08:21.720
Tom: Correct.
02:08:22.080 --> 02:08:38.540
Tom: And if you want to see the photos, the images that Phil teased you in regards to Beat Cop and Metro in the previous episode, you can find them on the Twitter post for that episode of The Game Under Podcast, I believe.
02:08:38.560 --> 02:08:39.320
Phil: Yeah, that's right.
02:08:39.320 --> 02:08:41.960
Phil: And also the photos of Police Quest as well.
02:08:42.360 --> 02:08:45.340
Phil: It is at gameunder.net.
02:08:45.360 --> 02:08:52.760
Phil: Thanks for listening and stay tuned for episode 129 where we will have the response from 4A Games to our questions about Demetri.
02:08:53.500 --> 02:08:54.020
Phil: Bye, Tom.
02:08:55.460 --> 02:08:55.800
Phil: Goodbye.
02:09:10.460 --> 02:09:11.740
Tom: I didn't bring up Neo-Nazis.
02:09:12.980 --> 02:09:14.540
Tom: We've been teasing this for too long.
02:09:14.560 --> 02:09:15.760
Tom: We have to get it out of the way.
02:09:17.680 --> 02:09:17.900
Tom: Yes.
02:09:17.920 --> 02:09:18.820
Tom: Not the comic book?
02:09:18.840 --> 02:09:20.700
Phil: No, the best Neo-Nazi novel.
02:09:25.720 --> 02:09:31.540
Tom: We have to finally put this to bed once and for all because it's been teased in several episodes.
02:09:31.940 --> 02:09:37.400
Phil: I've got to put my daughter to bed, which I think is more important than putting Neo-Nazi novels to bed.
02:09:38.080 --> 02:09:40.240
Phil: We'll hit this up in episode 129.
02:09:40.640 --> 02:09:41.520
Phil: If that's okay.
02:09:42.280 --> 02:09:42.800
Tom: Okay.
02:09:43.000 --> 02:09:43.540
Phil: Okay.
02:09:43.560 --> 02:09:45.680
Tom: We're heading for yet another episode.
02:09:46.060 --> 02:09:47.260
Phil: Good night, dear listeners.
02:09:47.300 --> 02:09:51.220
Phil: Next episode, Neo-Nazi novels and four games.
02:09:51.940 --> 02:09:56.540
Phil: Comment about our question as to why Dimitri is snubbing them.
02:09:56.740 --> 02:09:57.240
Phil: Thank you.
02:09:57.760 --> 02:09:58.480
Phil: You just...
02:09:58.800 --> 02:10:03.380
Phil: I had the perfect intro, outro, written, and you've got it blunt.
02:10:03.680 --> 02:10:06.080
Phil: Anyway, we'll give the listeners some music to listen to.
02:10:06.340 --> 02:10:08.160
Phil: How about the song from...
02:10:08.160 --> 02:10:10.520
Phil: What was that game, sir?
02:10:10.540 --> 02:10:11.140
Phil: You were hunted?
02:10:11.160 --> 02:10:11.600
Tom: Yes.
02:10:12.540 --> 02:10:12.900
Phil: All right.
02:10:12.920 --> 02:10:17.240
Phil: We'll give them that as the outro music, as a reward for my spoiled outro.
02:10:17.280 --> 02:10:24.900
Tom: You should give them, instead of that, another upper-class English rapper, Unknown P.
02:10:25.280 --> 02:10:27.540
Phil: Yeah, but I don't want to be taken down.
02:10:27.560 --> 02:10:30.960
Phil: I don't want to be copyright infringement, you know.
02:10:36.820 --> 02:10:37.240
Phil: Okay.
02:10:37.260 --> 02:10:37.760
Phil: All right.
02:10:37.780 --> 02:10:38.240
Phil: Very good.
02:10:38.280 --> 02:10:39.440
Phil: Unknown urine.
02:10:39.620 --> 02:10:41.800
Phil: And here's his latest hit, Anonymous Urine.
02:10:46.380 --> 02:10:48.280
Phil: Okay, I am Phil Fogg.
02:10:48.300 --> 02:10:49.980
Phil: Thanks for ruining the outro, Tom.
02:10:50.340 --> 02:10:52.500
Phil: We did a professional outro just once.
02:10:52.900 --> 02:10:54.340
Phil: You couldn't let it go.
02:10:54.960 --> 02:10:58.400
Phil: Well, I could, but that's not the kind of podcast we are.
02:10:58.660 --> 02:11:01.680
Phil: The music's going to be rolling under this, so we can just keep talking.
02:11:02.560 --> 02:11:06.420
Tom: The next episode, we're also going to have a eulogy, I believe.
02:11:06.860 --> 02:11:07.800
Phil: Oh, of who?
02:11:08.100 --> 02:11:11.080
Tom: Well, we may as well do it now, then.
02:11:11.100 --> 02:11:12.840
Phil: No, no, the music's rolling.
02:11:12.860 --> 02:11:14.100
Phil: We're gone.
02:11:14.120 --> 02:11:18.880
Phil: So, I heard Herman Cain died.
02:11:22.200 --> 02:11:23.520
Phil: You know who Herman Cain is?
02:11:23.540 --> 02:11:24.180
Tom: Yes, I do.
02:11:24.260 --> 02:11:26.840
Phil: He's the guy with the 999 deal.
02:11:27.140 --> 02:11:29.900
Tom: I don't know if he has a 999 deal.
02:11:29.940 --> 02:11:34.000
Tom: I just remember he's in a meme, isn't he?
02:11:34.040 --> 02:11:37.720
Tom: As well as having run for president at some point in a comical fashion.
02:11:38.620 --> 02:11:45.780
Phil: He had the 999 deal, because he worked for Domino's, had something to do with Domino's, and it was the 999 deal.
02:11:45.800 --> 02:11:48.820
Phil: You know, you get nine slices for nine cents, or whatever it was.
02:11:48.840 --> 02:11:55.980
Phil: But then he also had a tax thing, like, you know, you pay 9% of taxes, and I don't know what the rest of it was.
02:11:56.480 --> 02:11:59.760
Phil: But anyway, he's dead, so Herman Cain is dead.
02:11:59.780 --> 02:12:12.060
Phil: And I've got to say, about a eulogy show, I am really disappointed, because I put that together and posted it, and then you came back and said like, oh, you didn't do the Ryan Davis, and you didn't do this.
02:12:12.140 --> 02:12:15.760
Phil: Apparently, there are more eulogies than what I posted.
02:12:15.780 --> 02:12:16.600
Tom: You couldn't even remember.
02:12:17.740 --> 02:12:26.460
Phil: Well, I just basically went to our site, gameunder.net, and in the amazing search tool, put in eulogy or died, and then just snipped those together.
02:12:26.480 --> 02:12:30.320
Phil: I didn't do, you know, I couldn't, I didn't do the Ryan Davis stuff.
02:12:30.980 --> 02:12:32.380
Phil: So I apologize for that.
02:12:34.620 --> 02:12:35.760
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
02:12:35.800 --> 02:12:39.580
Phil: Well, you know, there's, we can do a filler show at some point in the future.
02:12:40.620 --> 02:12:44.000
Phil: Um, but, um, what was your point about Herman Cain?
02:12:44.100 --> 02:12:48.040
Tom: Well, no, it wasn't Herman Cain, but it was related to American politics.
02:12:49.120 --> 02:12:52.080
Tom: It was Michael Brooks, a YouTuber.
02:12:52.960 --> 02:12:53.580
Phil: Never heard of him.
02:12:53.580 --> 02:12:54.260
Tom: You wouldn't have.
02:12:54.520 --> 02:13:00.540
Tom: Who, I think he's on the Majority Report, which you also probably haven't heard of.
02:13:01.200 --> 02:13:02.080
Phil: No, I've heard of that.
02:13:02.100 --> 02:13:09.480
Tom: Well, he was previously, I think, a co-host on it, but he had his own YouTube show, and...
02:13:10.400 --> 02:13:12.100
Phil: Was he a right-winger, or...?
02:13:12.140 --> 02:13:13.420
Tom: I don't think he's a right-winger.
02:13:13.440 --> 02:13:14.080
Tom: No, he is...
02:13:15.080 --> 02:13:17.420
Tom: He is certainly a left-winger, I believe.
02:13:17.480 --> 02:13:18.600
Phil: Okay, so he's safe.
02:13:18.620 --> 02:13:18.940
Tom: Yes.
02:13:19.160 --> 02:13:20.740
Phil: Well, except for the fact he's dead.
02:13:20.760 --> 02:13:21.000
Tom: Yes.
02:13:22.200 --> 02:13:24.520
Phil: Well, he's actually safer than ever now, but...
02:13:24.540 --> 02:13:37.760
Tom: Well, what's impressive about this is, it again goes back to the previous commentary on Marxists not being involved in any of these historical moments they keep predicting in America.
02:13:40.840 --> 02:13:42.820
Tom: And just on that point, I mentioned that...
02:13:42.920 --> 02:13:50.620
Tom: I forgot to say why I brought that up, because it seems unrelated to games or art in general, but are you familiar with the novel The Invisible Man?
02:13:50.640 --> 02:13:51.740
Phil: I am.
02:13:51.960 --> 02:13:52.300
Tom: Yes.
02:13:52.320 --> 02:14:01.040
Tom: Well, in The Invisible Man, the protagonist in that gets involved with the Communist Party in America at the time.
02:14:01.600 --> 02:14:08.060
Tom: And there is the beginning of a riot and the possibility of mass class action.
02:14:08.320 --> 02:14:11.960
Tom: But the Communist Party decides, of course, that they...
02:14:12.220 --> 02:14:19.360
Tom: that this is not the correct historical moment for them to do anything for once and so naturally do absolutely nothing.
02:14:19.800 --> 02:14:37.660
Tom: And the accuracy the Marxist commentary that I've seen on the protests and riots in America is just amazing and gave me a greater appreciation for that book than I previously had.
02:14:38.100 --> 02:14:39.140
Phil: The Invisible Man.
02:14:39.200 --> 02:14:42.700
Phil: Alright, well I'll check that out when I'm done with the Chronicles of Narnia.
02:14:42.720 --> 02:14:46.840
Tom: Yep, but that would not necessarily apply to Michael Brooks.
02:14:46.860 --> 02:14:49.000
Tom: I bring him up just because on...
02:14:49.060 --> 02:14:49.700
Phil: Oh, he died.
02:14:49.720 --> 02:14:50.280
Tom: He died.
02:14:50.800 --> 02:14:51.960
Phil: Yeah, that's what I heard.
02:14:51.980 --> 02:14:52.240
Phil: Yeah.
02:14:52.820 --> 02:14:54.740
Tom: I bring you up just for two reasons.
02:14:54.940 --> 02:15:45.520
Tom: One, unlike most people who are brought up as having died young, and it's such a tragedy he died so young, like the 50-year-old Awata and so forth, he was only 36, which does even by the standards of the 30-year average age of the past that wasn't accurate, qualify as young, impressively, and two, the only notable thing about him was that in spite of being a Marxist, his knowledge of South American and Central American left-wing politics was actually quite good, and he managed to cover those topics without being tremendously patronising and obnoxious.
02:15:45.540 --> 02:15:49.140
Phil: And racist, like everyone else who's ever covered those topics.
02:15:49.700 --> 02:15:51.680
Phil: Well, if he's done that, my hat's off to him.
02:15:52.160 --> 02:15:56.300
Tom: And the last reason was in regards to your Ryan Davis coverage.
02:15:56.320 --> 02:16:04.620
Tom: Now, I did not have any emotional reaction to this, nor was I a religious watcher of his show or anything like that.
02:16:05.340 --> 02:16:16.960
Tom: But, out of morbid curiosity, I watched a lot of the channels and so forth, commentary on him.
02:16:17.600 --> 02:16:39.660
Tom: And it's, and again, this is not me making a judgmental comment on any of the people covering his death in the way that they did and talking about their relationships with him and about what his life was like and his achievements and so on and so forth.
02:16:40.360 --> 02:17:03.980
Tom: But it is, to me, a very surreal and weird world in which that sort of commentary is released to the public as part of the general media and also consumed by people not out of morbid curiosity who were familiar with the deceased.
02:17:04.760 --> 02:17:05.040
Phil: Yeah.
02:17:06.920 --> 02:17:10.980
Phil: Look, yeah, it's interesting from a sociological perspective.
02:17:13.680 --> 02:17:14.600
Phil: It is interesting.
02:17:14.600 --> 02:17:17.120
Phil: But I'll leave it at that and we'll close out the show.
02:17:17.320 --> 02:17:19.000
Phil: Well, we've already closed out the show.
02:17:19.020 --> 02:17:20.640
Phil: At this point, sir, you're being hunted.
02:17:20.660 --> 02:17:21.440
Phil: Music is over.
02:17:22.580 --> 02:17:24.420
Phil: Anyway, Tom, we'll talk to you next time.
02:17:24.440 --> 02:17:26.780
Tom: International Workers of the World Unite is playing.
02:17:28.360 --> 02:17:29.220
Phil: Yes, that's right.
02:17:29.960 --> 02:17:31.440
Phil: Which is a much worse song.
02:17:31.800 --> 02:17:32.260
Phil: Absolutely.
Tom: It is.
Phil: All right.
Phil: Adios.