Metal Monday (ReDux)

Anyone else have a strange feeling of deja vu?

YouTube Obsession

Civvi 11 is a weird weird channel. You may watch this video….

…”Wow, that’s a fun review but a lot of inside jokes I’ll never get without watching all his videos.” Nope. That’s just how weird his videos are.

Naturally, there is some lore and reoccurring bits with the Civvi 11 character but overall he kind of just adds something crazy to to his lexicon every video and lets his community hash it out. I love this approach.

Otherwise, he’s an excellent way to enjoy old boomer shooters that I don’t have the time or talent to play. His excellent “Pro” series covers some classics and new games alike. I highly suggest his Dusk and Blood series as he mixes love and criticism so well. His nostalgia for the ahem rougher games of the 90’s is the perfect way to experience them unironically.

Also, if you never had the chance to play the divisive and intentionally childish Postal series, just watch the Civvi playthrough.

“This can’t be good for me but I feel great.”

Watching

I haven't made it through all of our Director Retrospective but Dead Ringers might be one of my favorite movies of all time, let alone of Cronenberg’s oeuvre.

I watched Dead Ringers for the first time during COVID lockdown and really really enjoyed the film¹ . Yet, even after my most recent re-watch, I still can’t point to anyone one theme, set or acting performance that makes this movie so important to me. It’s all of it right? I cannot point to one thing in pancakes and say: “That’s why I like pancakes.”

There is so much happening in Dead Ringers that it kind of forces the viewer to lay back and embrace the vibes. And also, like pancakes, when I’m done watching Dead Ringers, I never want to watch Dead Ringers again, only to find myself, an hour later, thinking about Dead Ringers.

It’s a great movie that people should talk about more. I want to talk about it more. I want to hear people talk about it so I can maybe hear the words I feel I about this movie.

Reading

I’ve been in a reading drought recently, playing more games, out enjoying the cooler weather and honestly reading BattleTech rule books. I’ve read over 30 books this year which far surpasses any unconscious goal I may have set so I’m ok just resting my readers during this lull.

Also, Cuckoo is a heavy read. I simultaneously want to and dread reading the next chapter. So it’s a slow work in process.

Playing

So I’m fully engrossed in BattleTech (2018) the PC game from Hairbrained Studios. About every 6 months I play a mission or two and move on. This time however, after becoming more familiar with BattleTech -the miniatures game- I’ve come to appreciate the PC game on a much deeper level. Not just appreciating the lore but understanding the dice-rolls that are happening underneath all the graphics of the PC game has changed my perspective on BattleTech and it’s mechanics.

I used to think that the goal of fights in BattleTech were not dissimilar to the Firaxis X-COM games: Strategically take out enemies, before the enemies even have a chance to fire on the player. While those are certainly elements of BattleTech’s design there is a major difference: You are expected to take damage. Armor being slowly stripped away by multiple laser volleys is the tension of the battles. This change in my thinking towards fights has enriched my appreciation for a game that I already loved.

***

While my PC cools off between missions in BattleTech, I have been diving² back into Helldivers 2. I wanted to like the original Helldivers when I played it back on the PS3; It’s goofy mechanics, friendly fire and Starship Troopers motif was all up in my alley. However, the elements never came together for me and I dropped the game fairly quickly. Oh and I hate active reloads.

Helldivers 2 took the original’s concept and upgraded it completely. Making a chaotic 3rd person shooter that delivers the package promised by the original in a much more palatable and popular design (Oh and they got rid of active reloads). However, at launch on the PS5, the game felt off for me. Controls were mushy and cantankerous, matchmaking just never felt smooth and mission design repetitive. Even though I fell off quickly, it received enough of a player base to warrant fixing all of those issues through various updates and it’s most recent -and largest- update in September. So I’m giving it another go.

I’m glad I have! The game is in a much better state and is actually fun to play with complete strangers which is surprising in a game with friendly fire. Though everyone once in a while you get that one live mic that sound like they’re in an episode of Jersey Shore. Ultimately it is a live service game so the leveling system feels like a grind, especially in the early game but it gets away with that by being a fun game. To put it simply: When I’m playing a mission I am not thinking about leveling but in between missions all I can see is how long it will take to unlock the cool stuff in the tech tree. That’s not great but it’s not horrible either…

So, I look forward to playing more and doing my duty to protect Super Earth by strong arming Andrew to pick of a copy.

Listening

If you know anything about the movie Teen Witch from 1989, you have probably seen some clips of the infamous “Top That” song….

And that’s fair, it’s a ridiculous song that could only have been written by 40yo white men. But what the rest of the soundtrack deserves some love. It’s like the 80’s were clinging on for dear life, giving you everything.

Not to mention the movie’s other original songs are just as stupid as Top That.

I wish I had the musical acumen to discern how wild “Popular Girl” is as a song.

In case you are still on the fence, let me tell you that everyone should see Teen Witch at least once. I will do a proper post on it some day.

Other Notables

** Sometimes, I love the internet.

** Always, I love folklore.

** A good video about one of my favorite video games…

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1  Funnily enough, this is how I found out about the author of Manhunt, Gretchen Felker-Martin. I found a great review of the Amazon Prime Dead Ringers TV series she wrote and started following her from there.

2  ;)