Edward's May 2020 Monthly Mix

It's been another month of staying home. I don't mind; I've been keeping myself busy with all sorts of cultural things, not to mention having the living room painted and our floor fixed. It was in a major state of disrepair which we discovered when we tried to get new flooring laid. Seems someone in the past tried to cover it up. As Gomer Pyle would say, "Shame! Shame! Shame!" Speaking of covering, the state is being niggardly with my unemployment. It's always fun to see the ol' checking account get smaller and smaller as nothing comes in. Come on Indiana! You can do better than this. But hey, I got to be home another month. No complaints there. I took advantage.

1. Battlefield Bad Company 2  on PC: For the sake of nostalgia, I began playing this again. Not since Battlefield 2 have I had as much fun in an EA multiplayer shooter. I was surprised it still has a very active server base, but then with some of the best sniper mechanics in a multiplayer shooter I’ve seen and the fact it was Dice’s introduction to physics based destructive environments, I’m kind of not surprised. The 10 hour single player game is worth the price of admission, but that’s not the reason to play. It’s those perfectly designed multiplayer maps. I struggle with my twitch reflexes anymore, given my age, but this is a multiplayer shooter I can still be decent at. It can be found for very cheap at g2a.com. Pick it up and see if you can best me.

2. Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Five on Blu-Ray: Nothing feels better than being immersed in another great season of this venerable series. I’ve been introduced to a new member of the USS Enterprise, the illustrious Ensign Ro. She’s strictly business. Her cold clinical demeanor is what attracts me. Were I to be stationed on the Enterprise I could see myself turning her into my special project. I’d crack that hard shell with 3D chess in the Ten Forward with glee. In this season I’ve gotten to see Counselor Troi take over the ship as the highest ranking officer. She brazenly opened herself to suggestions from junior officers. She was honest in her uncertainty. How cool is that to be able to admit something like that?  

3. Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg: It was interesting to come to the realization this is book two in a series of 3 books revolving around a small town in Missouri in post WWII. More 1-3 page “vignettes” than full fleshed out stories or chapters, this is a compelling book. I initially fell in love with Flagg’s wondrous Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe years ago. This includes similar type writing. The main character is Neighbor Dorothy and her family. Neighbor Dorothy runs a syndicated radio show out of her house with the assistance of a group of well being, but humorous  helpers. The book is set in a time when people were more virtuous and goodly to one another. Reminiscent of The Waltons or The Andy Griffith Show the book is sappy to the point of becoming cheesy, but it just might make you wish these tumultuous times we live in were just a little bit different.

4. Assassin’s Creed on PC: I’d been putting playing this game off for a very long time. I’d heard the terrible stories of how wonky the controls were, and they were right. I finally beat it, and I have to say it's been one of the worst games I've ever played. I didn't buy it on Steam, but if I had, I'd probably write it an awful review. The artificially ramped up difficulty, and the repetition, and the bait and switch final bosses were just uncalled for. Shoot, the final boss intermingled with cut scenes and bait and switches took 3 hours and 10 minutes. Fortunately, none of them were difficult. If I failed the first time, I took them down in the 2nd or 3rd try. I've been told by numerous people the series gets easier to control and better to play with each successive title in the series. If this were not the case I probably would have given up on this game and threw my controller out the window.

5. Steel Division on PC: I’ve played an incredible amount of Company of Heroes. I wanted to try something similar, but different. I had Steel Division in my library and decided to give it a go. It’s like COH only on a platoon level rather than a squad level. It’s fun, and I’ve been knocking out achievements acquired for each campaign mission I complete. Unfortunately, each mission ramps up in difficulty at a crazy rate. I’ve almost given up. Even after watching YouTube Let’s Plays I have a very hard time with it. Here is a classic example. The last mission I completed gave me 30 minutes to get my German forces through a French city held by the British. As I convoyed through, I was being attacked from both sides. At a bare minimum you must get 30 units across. After about my 30^th try I was able to get 41 units through and completed the mission. Here’s the clincher though. Those 41 units are all I have remaining of my German army, and furthermore are the only forces I’ll have left for the final mission of the German campaign. This is the most difficult single player RTS I’ve ever played. But the Normandy topography and the attention to detail of the units (which are depicted with complete authenticity) make this a game worth playing despite its insane difficulty.  

6. Car Mechanic Simulator 2014 on PC: This was my go to game after struggling with ulcer inducing Steel Division. It’s a strange little garden of zen game involving repairing cars. It won’t teach you how to be a car mechanic, but it will educate you on little things like what a tie rod looks like and where it goes on a car. You start in a small oil stained cement floor cracked garage and as you complete customer orders and make money, move up to an intermediate garage and finally a state of the art repair facility complete with chip tuning capabilities. The game does get repetitious, but each order is a challenge and I have to admit I could feel the dopamine flowing when I completed a job and saw my funds increasing.  

7. The Power Station  on CD: I’ve always regarded John Taylor of Duran Duran as one of my favorite bassists. When this album came out in 1985 I thought the song, “Bang a Gong” was one of the coolest songs I’d ever heard, especially with Taylor’s masterful bass play. Listening to this album again after many years, I’ve picked up on something I totally missed 35 years go (my goodness, it’s been that long!) Any Taylor is an incredible guitarist. I never realized how underrated he was. And of course Tony Thompson and Robert Palmer making up the rest of the group made this band a bonafide supergroup. This was a one album band, but man, what an album, a real shooting star with an accompanying lifespan. The album did spawn a tour in which Robert Palmer walked out of whilst in the middle of. (Garnering much criticism for the gesture as well.) This was a hallmark album from the 1980s, a real touchstone of my youth at the time. 

8. Everspace  on Nintendo Switch Lite: After an extended hospital stay I learned the valuable lesson of having a gaming device for any subsequent stays. I’d had a Sony PS Vita, but after Sony kicked it (and all support of it) to the curb I sold my Vita and went with a Nintendo Switch Lite. So far, I’m pretty impressed with it. I’ve been chipping away at Everspace, a space shooter along the same vein as Origin’s Wing Commander series. This game, however, harbors roguelike characteristics. You cultivate credits and sundries by fighting outlaw ships and mining ore. You use money earned to unlock ship upgrades. When you are killed and lose your ship you are able to use that money for upgrades and ultimately better, faster, stronger ships. I’ve not gotten far into it, only the 2^nd sector so far. But I’m having fun doing it, and its portability enabling me to take this gaming system anywhere is unequaled. 

9. Battlefield 1942 on PC: After I found out an old gaming clan I used to play with was still playing this ancient game on a rented server I couldn’t wait to reinstall it and join the fray. As it turns out, there are a bevy of patches that need to be installed just to make it work right. I dabbled around with the single player game and it was obvious I was wearing rose colored glasses when I made the decision to give this game a try after all of these years. I played the crap out of this game when it came out, and I can glance over to my gaming shelf at the game boxes of this series on my shelf, with pride. But I’m almost glad I couldn’t connect to the servers out of the box. I suppose it’s true: some things are better left alone in the annals of memory and nostalgia. This game is definitely one of those things.