It's been a very busy multimedia month for me. Using my age old excuse that it's all because of the weather, I managed to stay inside for most of the month and do all kinds of nifty indoor things, mostly watching movies and playing games. It looks like I'm going to set a new record as far as finished games this year. I've managed to play over forty different games and finish playing seventeen of them. The first game was reviewed in my trusty PC Gamer magazine that actually suggests a better video card than what I currently use, and to think a few months ago I was bragging about how futureproof I was. Confound it! (The game, by the way, is Battlefield 4.) I have a GTX 670, and PCG is suggesting a GTX 680 to draw out the full effects of the game. This is currently a $500 video card, more than the retail cost of a PlayStation 4 or an Xbox One. This, another testament to how much of a powerhouse a top end PC is over the "next gen" consoles. I know, I know, I should keep my mouth shut, PC gaming is dead after all. I guess the creators of The Elder Scrolls Online and Everquest Next didn't get the memo. Oh, and someone should tell Nvidia, who is about to release a superhumongous new technology: The G-Synch. This technology will move LCDs truly into new generation territory with the ability of your video card to adjust the refresh rate of your LCD as it sees fit. We've been using old CRT technology for years, and we're about to step into a bold new era with this astounding technological shift.
1. Torchlight on PC
This little sleeper of a game swept the critics off of their collective feet when it came out in 2009. Garnering a respectable 83 on Metacritic this is the game that PC Gamer said was "more Diablo III than Diablo III." I've got about 50 hours into it which puts me at about the halfway mark. I do like the cartoony art style, but the game is getting rather long in the tooth. I've hit level 20 and I've got some elite armor, (though no complete sets yet.) Still, the game fills my strange need to just kill a thousand things with a thousand million mouseclicks. I probably won't be in a hurry to play Torchlight II anytime, soon. I think this game will satiate my appetite for a long time to come.
2. Bioshock: Infinite on PC
I finally beat it. This was Irrational's/2K's epic magnum opus (for this year anyway.) I struggled a little bit during the last boss fight, but it wasn't quite a killjoy. I had to dumb the game down from Hard to Easy, but I got it. And in some odd way this might have been my personal homage to the masses who wanted to bypass the combat elements and continue through the storyline, yes, it was that good. Although, I felt the ending was a bit contrived. Still, Ken Levine, tells a great tale here. The game deals with the heavy subjects of anti-Christianity and anti-patriotism, but it pulls it off as poignantly as it can. (Is that really possible?) This is the first game in ages that I actually sat there stunned at the end and watched awestruck as the credits rolled by for ten minutes. (And got to see the little mini quick time event bonus after the credits.) This is an amazing game that not only affirms my love for the Bioshock series, in which the environments are as much a character as the NPCs you interact with, but also gives me bragging rights as to how and why I love PC games with all of my heart and lay valid claim to the fact there's nothing else I'd rather be doing.
3. Fiddler On The Roof on DVD
When I was 9 years old I accompanied my mother and my aunt to go see Doctor Zhivago at the theater in downtown Urbana, Illinois. The movie was over my head at the time, but one thing stuck with me from that movie: I think Russians must be the saddest people on the planet. I'll never forget the blue snow scenes and the furry Russian hats, and I'll never forget the sad and confused look on Zhivago's face when he was a boy attending his mother's graveside service. I watched Fiddler on the Roof for the first time this month, which reminded me of the sadness in Doctor Zhivago. This movie, which focuses on a poor Jewish farmer attempting to cling to the old ways of tradition, being uprooted because of his religious beliefs. He has three daughters who have become young women, and like the old traditions he has to let go, so he must let his daughters go to their respective new husbands. This 1971 film was based on a Broadway play. Normally I eschew such things. B-O-R-I-N-G! But my parents loved this movie and told me I'd enjoy it. The parents were right (for once.) I won't watch it again, but this is an important movie. As a fan of good movies, I'm glad I watched it.
4. Paths of Glory on DVD
Stanley Kubrick made this movie when he was only twenty eight. And Kirk Douglas fell in love with the script when he read it. He was quoted as saying, "Stanley, I don't think this movie will make a dime, but we HAVE to make it." Douglas was correct. The movie didn't turn a profit, but this is one of the greatest anti war movies ever made, right up there with All Quiet on the Western Front. The movie concerns Frenchman Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) who must defend three soldiers in a World War One courtroom who were picked at random to represent a whole brigade of men accused of cowardice after they fail to capture a hill held by German infantry. This is a movie that impacted me on a deeper level, and made me tense with frustration at the outcome.
5. The Music on CD
Good luck Googling "The Music" and finding out anything about this amazing band out of Leeds, England. I'll save you the legwork, instead simply go to www.themusicuk.com and there within you'll discover a knock out band that blends the sounds of U2 with Led Zeppelin. Some compare the lead singer, Robert Harvey, to a twenty one year old Robert Plant. I'm not seeing it, but there's no need to. This guy can croon all on his own. Check out "Into the Night" on Youtube and prepare to be blown away. I've been wearing out my replay button on my car stereo to this CD lately. Favorite tracks are "Into the Night," and "Guide."
6. Who I Was Supposed to Be by Susan Perabo
Back in 2007 a friend loaned me a collection of short stories by southern American writers. One write stood out for me, and that was Susan Perabo. I recently found this book, and I'm about halfway through it. The beautiful thing about writing is the ability to play God. You can shape your own world, you can create your own people, and then jump into their skin and tell your stories through their eyes. Susan Perabo does this with amazing ability. In the short story, "Counting the Ways" she is a young man in a young marriage, and she nails the experience of being a man so vividly. She's a writer who makes me strangely envious, in that gnawing little way where I know as long as I live I'll never match her abilities.
7. Test Drive Unlimited 2 on PC
I researched extensively on the forums before I picked this game up. The game's developer's Eden Games are now defunct. And the game's publisher, Atari, has nothing to do with it anymore. Okay, that's not entirely true. If you want to buy any of the DLC they are there for you, but try to get some good ol' bona fide technical support. TDU2 is the game they set in the wicker basket and left on somebody's doorstep. Still, there are people playing online. And with my Logitech G27 wheel/paddle set, this car driving simulation is a blast. There are 2,000 miles of roads in Ibiza and Hawaii in this sim. And I plan on hitting them all.
8. A Scanner Darkly on DVD
Based on a novel by Philip K. Dick, this animated movie became for me, one of my famous "three day movies," a designation created by my sister and I calling attention to movies that got into our heads and got us to thinking about them for three days straight. The movie is animated, but contains an all star cast, and oddly, the cartoon characters look exactly like their real life counterparts. It's as if someone filmed a video of the actors, Robert Downey, Jr., Woody Harrelson, Wynona Ryder and Keanu Reeves and then used a weird caricature filter in Photoshop on them. I've read my share of Philip K. Dick books and found them a bit on the dry side. The movie BladeRunner was a far better movie than Dick's original novel it was based on. I'm really interested in reading the book this movie was based on to see how they compare. I'm not a big fan of animation, but the animation style and the film's great use of lighting effects has endeared this movie to me. It now holds a permanent place on my shelf.
9. Team Fortress 2 on PC
I'm typically not a fan of cartoon games (Torchlight being an exception). I suck at online first person shooters, and more importantly why would I jump onboard a game so late that's been out since 2007? I dabbled in TF2 in the past, but only stuck around to take in the scenery. Just not my thing. But this month something happened. Now I can't get enough. This is a grand game. Every class is a good class. People are halfway respectful toward each other. There isn't the verbal abuse you find in Dota and LOL games. And I haven't laughed out loud in a game in a long time. I mentioned the scenery, well, the art style exudes all sorts of charm. It's as if Norman Rockwell and the Hanna-Barbera team had an orgy and produced a lovechild. Maybe, the best perk of all about this game, however, is that my skills are seemingly improving with each game. For a guy like me who is reaching the age where I can watch my reflexes evaporate like dew on a suddenly scorching mid morning this is a very good thing.
