Donlevy Reviews Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number -- Beware the Chicken Mask

Hotline Miami was psychedelic insanity and brutality in an inexpensive and replayable package; a stellar example of simple mechanics with intense execution. It's sequel, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, aims to expand on what the original created with new masks, more gameplay and an improved story that tackles even more characters and time frames.
Given the nature of the preceding game it's an ambitious undertaking, but one that, sadly, doesn't come together unscathed. An incredible new soundtrack and expanded narrative don't make up for flawed and frustrating gameplay choices that take away from what made the original so invigorating, even though there are semblances of such greatness to be found.

In Hotline Miami, the player controlled the mysterious Jacket as he went about 1980's Miami slaughtering Russian gangsters in their hideouts at the behest of bizarre phone calls. He could wear multiple masks that would each bestow a trait or bonus that changed how you approached each level. In Hotline Miami 2, the player now controls multiple characters rather than select individual masks, with events flashing between both before and after the first entry. This means the game serves as both a sequel, and as a prequel. The story is divided up into several chapters, made up of various "scenes" each with an intro and ending/results screen. Of the characters, some are allowed a choice of ability or weapon, or in the case of The Fans, four (technically five) different characters with their own traits. Other characters exhibit unique attributes never before seen. Evan, for instance, is the only character that is non-lethal, unless you continue to finish off a downed enemy. Otherwise, he disassembles guns he picks up, and doesn't kill with melee weapons. Alex & Ash of The Fans are a brother/sister duo who wield a chainsaw and gun. They're hard to control, and susceptible to a few pathing issues, but are absolutely memorable.

What makes the Hotline Miami games so immediately striking is two-fold: a combination of the pixel-based ultra-violence and the mesmerizing electronica/house soundtrack. The games evoke a colourful, exuberant 80's landscape through these features, and are stylized with an almost hedonistic flair. In fact, it's in this sense that the games bridge their theme and gameplay; from psychedelic to psychosis. Levels are drug-addled insanity, with a pumping, fast-paced song filling each level, peppered with colours, numbers and blood flying all about, and dozens of bodies in the wake. When the mayhem is done, the record stops and you're left to witness the gruesome landscape before you, as a terrible reminder of your actions.

Because make no mistake, like its predecessor, Hotline Miami 2 is bloody, brutal and utterly, utterly violent. Parents best keep their children away from this one. You take out the faceless, pixel-made enemies in morbid and horrific ways, and Hotline Miami is not above disturbing the player. Guts and gore are commonplace as you achieve your main objective: eliminate each level's opposition. From a top-down view of the level (usually a building), you control the character in any direction, being able to throw punches or use weapons with one button, throw and pick up said weapons with another, and finish a downed enemy or perform a special move with one more. You also have a "lock-on", and a "look" button, the latter of which allows you to see further ahead, and which you'll be using a lot, and the former of which you will likely not use at all, as it is often more trouble than it's worth. You usually can only withstand one hit, or a few stray bullets, so the core element of Hotline Miami is quickly and efficiently taking out every enemy before they get you. Simple, hey? Well, besides the average bat-wielding henchmen, other enemies include gun-wielding henchmen -- the bane of every player -- bigger baddies that can only be killed with said guns, and fast baddies that can only be killed by melee attacks. These folk exist to screw with you, so juggling priorities on who to take out and when is an engaging element of the typical fast-paced nature of the game.

That is of course all well and good in theory. Sadly, a few additions to the game hinder what is already a proven formula. For starters, while the decision to have multiple characters over different masks make for better story and variety overall, it's ultimately more linear because of your restrictions on playstyle. Most of the levels don't feel particularly geared towards a certain character from a gameplay perspective, and the levels where you do have a choice are limited to 3-5 masks/characters/weapons.

Which leads to the most evident problem: the levels themselves, which have been expanded both in length and level size. It's surprising, given that a few key levels are totally unique and delightful only because of their scope. Indeed, those levels evoke classic Metal Gear, except with an unreal amount of blood. Yet they too fell prey to the irony I faced: that even though the levels appear to be sufficiently wider and privy to different tactics, I felt more restricted in my approaches than I have ever been before.

As an example, there's an opening section of a mid-game level that's one large hallway with two slight indents on the north and south side. You don't start with a weapon, and only one of the guards has a gun: and he has a clear line of sight to you in every possible way unless you are essentially in the doorway of the level start. There's absolutely no cover at all. And of course, he patrols alongside a melee-immune enemy. So, you either get shot/hit trying to take out a nearby enemy holding a throw-able weapon (presumably to throw at the guy with the gun), or taken out by his buddy AND shot if you try and get the guy with the gun outright. You know, some might call that a "challenging puzzle," but I say nonsense. You are entirely limited on options, and you'll be replaying such a simple level over and over until it feels like you either cheated your way to the next section or exploited a glitch or "cheesy" solution. That's simply not fun. That's insulting.

And when I said you'd be using that "look" button a lot, I meant it. You'll be making good use out of the feature, so much so that most of the game will be spent in it, which causes problems when encountering enemies at close range where the disorientation usually leaves you dead. Levels at each point in the game practically force you to constantly and consistently use the feature to look for two things: windows, and gun-toting henchmen. Windows, as you might infer, are an immense hazard, and an immense pain. They allow enemies to spot you, AND shoot you, through the glass. Windows are not a new feature, but they've been exploited to an absurd amount, to the point where I'd call the enemy hangouts less "gang den" and more "carnival fun house." With less of the fun.

In fact, the amount of both windows and guns in this game has seemingly been increased by a tremendous amount. And you might be able to tell where I'm going with this. The larger and less timely levels make you a target from across the map by enemies with pin-point accuracy. Sometimes far enough that you'll likely not even see them until they unexpectedly run up to you. This fact, coupled with the partitioned design of the rooms, means that a great majority of your successes will be from baiting enemies to a hidey-spot and eliminating them as quickly as you can, while you sit in a corner and wait. It feels dissimilar to the first Hotline Miami, wherein many levels were quick, calculated, and deliberate rushes to the finish, and your speed and reflexes determined the outcome. Here, too much time is spent in a mock game of hide-and-seek and peek-a-boo. These common occurrences make for what is basically a "camping" simulator. Enter room, sit in corner, fire a shot, wait, kill, peek out, repeat. Don't get me wrong, this was a problem in the first game too, but not in this capacity. And the longer levels make these excursions far more tiring.

There were simply too many times where when I finished a level I wouldn't feel gratified, happy, or even victorious; I'd feel relieved. Like I had just finished a burdening test of both patience and willpower. I held no care for whatever final score I was awarded upon the complete tally of my meta time and effectiveness; a complete reversal of my thoughts from the original. Several levels just dragged on, while I continually hoped the next room would be the last. That's not right, man!

On top of all of this, there's recurring glitches and annoyances to contend with everywhere. Doors and doorways are hazard zones, mostly because it's far from uncommon to see a baddie stutter and flicker in the middle of the doorway, sometimes being immune to damage unless it's precise. These enemies can also sporadically fix themselves, and proceed to end the player in the confusion. In a rush, it's also entirely possible to cycle through empty firearms in a feverish bid to save yourself, due to the stockpile of bodies likely in front of you in such a scenario. It's a consistent pain, since you're basically at the mercy of how far apart the weapons happen to be, in which case you better watch carefully. And for one reason or another, it always seems that guns never properly fire through an archway, usually as you try and move and shoot. A strange bit of clipping. You could try the lock-feature, but in that case, I say good luck.

It's unfortunate that for a game with such strong production values, the gameplay can't do it the justice it deserves. The style and themes are endearing and fascinating, and I can not stress enough how great the soundtrack is. I suppose one of the few positives of the long levels is that you have more time to listen to the stage's music! And I do highly respect the tone and art-house feel the narrative provides (the original game listed the movie Drive as an inspiration). It's tough; there are parts of the game that feel like a truely improved sequel, and that energetic rush that defines Hotline Miami is still present in the better parts. Yet the grievances and frustration in the level design are not something so easily put aside. It's fun mayhem, but it's also heavily flawed mayhem.

YAY

• The soundtrack is glorious. Might well be the best part of the game.
• An expanded story that adds different characters and points in time, making for good variety. A thematically fascinating game.
• The additional characters play differently and have unique abilities. The brother/sister duo are particularly notable.
• Occasional exhilarating moments reminiscent of the best Hotline Miami has to offer.

NAY

• Longer levels don't work in the game's favour: makes completing them feel more relieving, rather than satisfying or exciting.
• A few recurring glitches and design flaws make luck a far more common crutch than it really should be.
• Too many levels just become a glorified (and violent) game of "peek-a-boo." Kills the hectic pace the series is known for.

RPG Week 2014 Day Three: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords

Given the other games that have come before in this series, this one's a bit unexpected, no? Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II- The Sith Lords, ah, too long of a damn title. To the point, I figured I'd change it up a little bit, and of the two KOTOR games, I played the sequel most recently -- this year. I very much intend to talk about the original incredible KOTOR, made by the Edmonton-based Bioware, but KOTOR II is still fresh in my mind, and warrants some discussion of its own!

KOTOR II, was released on the Xbox December 6, 2004, and the PC a few months later. While its predecessor was created by Bioware, KOTOR II was instead developed by Obsidian, known for Fallout: New Vegas, and the recent South Park: Stick of Truth. KOTOR II is, I think, a great game. It was however, plagued by glitches and bugs upon release (much like New Vegas), and suffered from multiple instances of cut content. Despite what feels like a splintered product, the game does offer multiple gameplay improvements over the first KOTOR, as well as a new story that connects to the first game.

Several years after the end of KOTOR (which can be one of two endings), the Jedi have slowly been eradicated by the legions of Sith forces, and now the remaining Jedi have gone into hiding, save for one who is known as the Exile: you. Meeting a mysterious woman named Kreia, with whom you develop a Force Bond, you and a continually growing group of droids, rouges, and former soldiers journey to distant planets to investigate the powers of the Sith, and find the remaining Jedi.

Compared to its predecessor, KOTOR II's story is not as strong, and lacks many of the surprises and strong moments found before. Its still not a bad story though, and the characters you meet along the way are absolutely memorable. The infamous droid assassin HK-47 even makes a return as a party member!

Gameplay remains mostly similar the first game, with you and two party members journeying around different locations in the Star Wars galaxy, completing side quests and the main storyline. The big draw of both KOTOR games is that you are given choices in dialogue and in story moments to shape your character (and your party members) either along either the Light or Dark side of the Force. Some members, including your character, are capable of wielding the Force, and the powers can differ depending on your alignment. New to KOTOR II is a more visible and dramatic change in party members should your influence affect them. It gives a more tangible and organic component to the characters, and should you choose to teach certain members the ways of the Force, the affect is even more apparent and appreciated.

Combat is made up of queuing different actions towards enemies, either in real-time or by pausing the game, and these actions consist of using different attacks depending on the character's weapon, such as a blaster, sword or lightsaber, and powers of the body or Force, as well as items. How a character deals and receives damage is based on invisible "dice rolls" that happen unseen within the game, and these rolls can be modified with stronger weapons or upgrades (which can be used at workbenches or tables found throughout the wolds). These rolls, and ultimately how combat works, is an interesting ordeal, if sometimes rather annoying. It hearkens to classic tabletop RPG's like D&D, so as to add a layer of unpredictability. Yet the rolls for weapons other than a single lightsaber or vibroblade can be just silly. If, for example, you decide to use a double-sided lightsaber early on, you'll have to pour most of the points you get when you level up from XP into the tree that allows for Two-Weapon Fighting, lest you continually see an enraging barrage of "miss" above an enemy. So there is a bit of forethought required.

Throughout the game one might recognize multiple famous themes from Star Wars, as well as some original music of the game's own. The original music found here is quite good in its own right, and makes way into the Star Wars lore fittingly. Graphically, KOTOR II has aged about as well as one might expect from a 10 year old game. The character models are rather stoic, but recognizable. The faces are saved yet by the still-strong voice acting, however. But nothing can really be saved by the multitude of game glitches and bugs, even more if the game is left un-patched. There are several known game-breaking and quest-breaking glitches that make saving multiple times in multiple slots a necessity. It's unfortunate, yet there is a ray of hope for PC users, where several fan-made patches were introduced along with the official ones to combat these glitches. In fact, on top of the patches, there are multiple fan-made mods that can improve the game in considerable and commendable ways. One famous and excellent mod actually brings back much of the content that was cut, albeit in an unofficial way. I suppose it goes without saying, then, that I recommend playing KOTOR II on the computer, along with the available patches and mods!

Indeed, despite not being as polished or original as the first KOTOR, the second game is still a solid entry and one worthy of a playthrough. KOTOR II, was, in fact, the first of the two games I played! Ha, in retrospect it did spoil a bit of the first game, so I think while I'm recommending the second game, I'll go ahead and recommend the first one as well!

Donlevy Likes to Play God

Is it the human condition that forms within us a God complex?

Nah I dunno, I'm only here to talk about games! And in particular, those games that have you take on a God-like persona, whether that means sending your delightfully ignorant peons to a certain death, or guiding them to fun and excitement! These are of course sim games, short for simulation. There's a ton of them out there, some more popular than others, but they all stem from the common theme of control and observation. It's much like watching your own little mad science experiment come to life.
It's both enlightening and frightening how much amusement one can have from such games, but I tend not to think much into it as I watch my loyal subjects do my bidding at the slightest whim, and praise my name as Mayor/Park Manager/God/etc. No, I don't have a God complex.

Yes, probably the most famous of these types of games is undoubtedly The Sims. I've talked about the series at different lengths, and I don't have much else to add, since it's still the best-selling game series on PC. It's The Sims. No matter which game you play, or which device/console/peripheral you play it on, The Sims remains largely the same: you create your Sims, build a house for them, and watch them live out their day to day lives with either extreme or minimal input at your behest. Give them six-figure jobs and let them drink away their riches? Or take away their pool ladder in protest, and regret your decision as you beg with Death not to take them. Ah Sims. What a marvellous series. Will Wright, the creator and designer, called it something along the lines of a "doll-house-simulator," and it's a fitting description, although with more of a general appeal, and not one restricted by either age or gender. It's truly a game series for anyone.

SIMilarly, there's SimCity (I'm sorry), around since 1989, and also designed by Will Wright. Across all the SimCity games, you are the mayor of a city (duh), and must construct roads, zones, police stations, hospitals, and power plants to make your city the best that ever was, and ever will be. The original version of SimCity had several different versions released, along with five sequels, including the notorious recent release in 2013. First however, a confession. I am terrible at the SimCity games. I can never really construct a city and have it run wonderfully indefinitely, and I usually end up calling in a disaster in frustration. Yes, a hallmark of the series are disasters that can occur either randomly or by your own will, and these range from floods, to riots and to UFO's. I suppose there's something to be said for watching your bright and brimming city build up, only to have it destroyed by a giant robot. In fact, in the case of the awesome Super Nintendo version you see in the picture above, you can call in freaking BOWSER to come and wreck your city. That's so cool! All those finicky and ungrateful citizens demanding their taxes be lowered? Send in the Koopa King himself to instill fear and terror!

The thing about SimCity, and to a lesser extent The Sims, is that the games are actually part of a (far) larger series of Sim games, developed by Maxis. Yeah, Maxis pretty much ruled the simulation genre with an iron fist for the longest time. I'm woefully ignorant of most of these games, sadly, but I know that a great many of them exist, such as SimEarth, SimAnt, SimTower, SimHealth (really), and more. It's insane.

A personal favourite of mine though is definitely the RollerCoaster Tycoon games. Wow! I'll say right away that I'm far more versed in the first two than I am with the 3-D third entry, but many of the main mechanics stay the same throughout, and they make up some fantastic games! As the name implies, you construct roller coasters, among other things, for your amusement park as you build up from either a pre-made entry park, or from scratch. You raise and lower prices of items and fees, direct the flow of the park with pathways, and punish those ungrateful little twerps who only come to your park to mock it, laugh at it, and throw trash all around the park, sometimes vomiting along the way. Ah, when it comes to these special people, my parks have a simply policy: put them in the Pit of Shame (sometimes the Fence of Shame, if I can't lower land). Since you can pick up any park guest via a convenient "tweezers" icon, I simply pick them up and place them in their respective Pit or Fence, where they can contemplate on their actions in their helpless state. Oh, this game is so much fun. Of course designing the roller coasters is a definite highlight, of which they can also break down unintentionally (or morbidly intentionally), with sometimes fatal consequences. You must adapt to these events, and how you handle the overall management of the park is the biggest and most satisfying draw of the game. Seeing your small park grow and flourish with the ebb and flow of the many guests is a great pleasure.

There are other cool sim-like games too! Take for example, ActRaiser on the SNES, shown above! A launch title for the SNES developed by Quintet (responsible for Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, and Terranigma -- collectively known as the Soul Blazer trilogy on the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo) and published by Enix (now part of Square Enix), ActRaiser is part city-builder, and part sidescrolling action! As The Master, you reconstruct civilizations that have been thwarted by Tanzra, and you do this by first entering a sidescrolling action segment in which you control an animated idol/statue, defeating enemies and a boss on each level. After doing so, you enter the city-building mode, where you construct buildings, pathways, and flora to better the civilization.

Donlevy Side Note: The previously mentioned, and awesome, Soul Blazer actually plays like ActRaiser in some respects, with a hero that acts out the will of a God-like deity, and reconstructs villages via releasing souls sealed away in labyrinths. Excellent game. Recommend. 

UPDATE

Okay, so, I totally forgot about one of the more unique God-like games out there. I was reminded of the peculiar Spore by my good friend Booth, and I can't resist the urge to mention it here.

What is Spore? It is, in principle, around five different games that make up one whole experience. Spore is highly customizable, in that at each stage you have the opportunity to create or edit your creature, buildings, vehicles, and eventually even spaceships, as you recreate life from it's earliest beginnings, to the search for the stars. You begin by controlling a little amoeba-like cell as you click around to direct your little friend to find food in the form of protein cells, and eventually, other amoeba creatures. When you have reached a certain millennium, your creature sprouts legs, and you then control them individually as they procreate and form packs, and you must protect them and others from other enemy creatures that are not your allies. After you have developed a brain, you enter a Tribal stage, which plays out like a rudimentary strategy game. You control groups of your creature as you conquer other local tribes with either savoury or unsavoury means. How you shape your creature's tribe will influence your creatures society later on. They can be peace-loving pacifists, or you can make them a bunch of freeloading assholes. The next evolutionary stage is the Civilization stage, which plays a lot like...well, the game Civilization. It's a more expanded form of the tribal stage, with vehicles and buildings to customize to your hearts content. And then, finally, you reach the largest and most prominent stage in the game: the Space era. It look millions of years to reach this point, but your funny and awkward, and sometimes violent, amoeba has finally reached the stars. Here, you have the freedom to explore stars and their planets, of which you may find other creatures or Evil Empires of Doom, or you may terraform a barren (or not-so-barren, if you're evil) planet to be shaped by your will. So yes, if you are that immature, you may indeed make a planet with no defining feature save for a penis shaped ocean. But Spore is pretty rad, and while I think the space stage kinda steals the show, the game as a whole is really cool, and while it may not scream "simulation," I doubt I'll ever talk about this game in any other context. So there's that. Still, fun game! And really, really weird at times. Like, creepily weird. ("Does that creature have a leg as a nose?")

As always, there are a ton of other games worthy of playing God that I didn't get the chance to mention, like for example Populous!

Or how about Black & White?

Granted, a few of these games straddle the line between between "simulation" and "strategy game," but I think the overall premise of control and observation blends well into the strategy sphere of gaming. And obviously some games with simulation in their title, like Flight Simulator or Train Simulator don't exhibit gameplay found in God-like games.

But that's really all I wanted to say. I like God games. I like playing God. And I feel that there's an inherent enjoyment to be found in all of us when we see our creations come to life, be it in real life or in a capable videogame. Interactivity in gaming naturally lends itself well to that sort of gameplay and style, and you can be sure that as newer and more advanced games are released, our creations will evolve as well, and in new and exciting ways.

Old Computer Games Rock!

Hello fellow people! Sorta kinda continuing with the theme of gaming memories from last week, I have some PC-centric ones that I'd thought I would share with you! I was reminded of a bunch of these games recently, courtesy of the totally awesome YouTube channel Lazy Game Reviews, so go check him out!
My earliest memories of console gaming were absolutely similar to the ones I mentioned last week, but my earliest memories of gaming in general were actually found on the computer! I remember seeing the most basic of nonsensical bits as early as I can remember, and I definitely have a few memories of some totally unique and awesome games that were found there. My history doesn't stretch as far back as say the Amiga or Commodore 64, but hey, DOS and Windows man!

When my Dad bought a family computer for the first time around when I was born, it came with a version of the then revolutionary Wolfenstein 3D. It's a first-person shooter, one of the granddad's of the genre, to be precise, and had you take the role of B.J. Blazkowicz (yeah...), as you infiltrate the many lairs and dungeons of the Nazi regime. Your goal is simple: Kill Hitler. End the Nazis. Okay! Sounds good to me! You move around simple enough, opening doors and finding various guards to shoot and relics to gather for points, which when a certain amount is acquired, you are given an extra life. You have a simple knife, a Luger pistol, an MP40, and a chain-gun to find and use against the Nazi soldiers. Different soldiers can take different amounts of hits before they're downed, and this is most realized in the area bosses, one of which is indeed Hitler, albeit in a huge Mech-suit, and featuring some strange sorcerer powers to boot. The game was incredible for it's time, and I think, still a blast to play! It's incredibly simple and almost rudimentary, but the secrets and progression found in the gameplay are still trying to be matched today.


According to my parents, when I was still crawling around on the floor, my Dad would actually hoist me up onto his lap and let me control around the game. I'm sure I had no idea what I was even doing, but I was still technically playing the game. And indeed, this makes Wolfenstein 3D the very first game I ever played. Pretty cool, huh?

So yes, as it happens, I was indeed killing Nazi's before I could walk.

Of course, it didn't stop there, oh no. id Software, the developer of Wolfenstein 3D, went on to create the ultimate successor to Wolfenstein; one to surpass it in nearly ever way. Oh yeah, you may have heard of it. Released just a year later, I am of course referring to the one and only...

DOOM.

Oh yeah. I have a little more of a memory playing this one, to be sure. Once again courtesy of my Father, I'd get the chance to participate in the slaughtering of demonic hordes every so often when I'd go to his office and watch him play. I can never really forget the sound of those hell-spawn as they prowl around looking for you, and I'll also never forget the audible grunts that occurred if you were hit, and the picture of your face on the HUD that would slowly deteriorate with each hit. Ah, good times.

Doom is definitely a big name in the first-person shooter genre, and even in gaming itself. While in no way the original FPS, it is undoubtedly the one with the most influence at the time, surpassing even it's predecessor Wolfenstein 3D. As an unnamed space marine, referred to in popular culture as  "Doom Guy," is tasked with eradicating the creatures that spawned from the pits of Hell on Mars, and putting a stop to their hellish invasion. You have a bunch of weapons at your disposal, with many memorable ones including the shotgun, chain-gun, chainsaw, and the BFG 9000 (Big Freaking Gun, if you were wondering). With these weapons you must maneuver the maze-like labyrinths and corridors, defeating enemies along the way, finding secrets, and making your way to the exit, sometimes collecting those naughty Key Cards while you're at it. It's no big secret: Doom freaking rocks! Even years after it's original release, the game is still just as awesome, with a passionate modding community, and it's own sequels and re-releases. Doom set the gold standard for FPS's at the time, and in my mind, is still at the top of the pedestal.

Now by this time I think my parents were starting to notice the fascination I had with annihilating the hordes of Evil, so my Dad probably had that in mind when he started showing me some of id Software's older games, and the most noteworthy of them all, Commander Keen. Released before both Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, Commander Keen was a series of platforming games divided into various "episodes," like "Aliens Ate My Babysitter" and "Goodbye Galaxy!" And holy crap. Talk about being drawn into a game. As Keen, you land on various worlds and progress through a 2D level, with plenty of bizarre creatures and environments to see, as well as some collectibles to find. You can jump, shoot, and hop on a pogo stick. I think the environments most of all are what got me. They were so unique and cool, and very "alien." It was the equivalent of reading a sci-fi novel and describing the colours and textures of the surroundings. I became fixated on Commander Keen after I was shown it, and I remember learning from my dad the use of cheat codes to mess around with. I got stuck a lot so, for me, using a pogo stick to out-jump the screen and practically fly around the screen and map was necessary, but also totally rad. So, yes, while I guess you could argue that I wasn't playing the game properly, I was playing it nonetheless. I don't know how much more I can about Keen, but the entire game with all the episodes is available on Steam, and for the price that it is, I DEFINITELY recommend a buy.

Along with Keen though, my Dad showed me what was kind of an oddity in retrospect: Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure. Now THIS game was weird! But just like Commander Keen, it's use of the environment and aliens to develop a sense of uniqueness and variety, not to mention being straight up cool, was something that definitely had a profound and positive impact on me. The game's story though was something I always had trouble wrapping my head around. Get this: you play as Cosmo, a little green alien boy, trying to find and rescue your parents after you find them missing while exploring a planet en route to, of all places, Disneyland. Yes, Disneyland. Anyways, like Keen, the story is split into several episodes, each with different locations and enemies. Cosmo himself can jump and use bombs on enemies, while also being able to climb and stick to walls via his suction-like hands. Once again, it is a 2D side-scroller platformer, with the objective of reaching the end, and, you know, not dying along the way. This game was loads of fun for me, but was also deceptively hard in certain parts. Of course, this could be both my nostalgia and childish mind at work here. I never actually remember beating this game, come to think of it, and that's probably because we were playing a shareware version, if I do recall. Shareware was a release method for older computer games that gave the consumer/player a morsel of the game, say, an episode or level, and leaving the rest up to purchase if you liked the game. For the time, I think that was a great model!

Which brings me a sad notion, however: I haven't beaten either Keen or Cosmo. The shareware model I mentioned above was likely the reason why I don't specifically remember completing either game, and that was mainly because I never got the chance to! Well, it is time to change that. My childhood demands it! I mentioned before how Keen is on Steam, which is a great way to pick it up, but Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure is a little more complex. It's practically abandonware at this point, meaning that if there's any download service that has it or the shareware version, a full version shouldn't (in theory) be hard to find. Granted, I actually am still searching, so if I find a way to obtain a copy, without having to locate a floppy disk, I will update this piece.

Now before I go, I have just one last game to mention... A few odd years after I played these games, my Dad (notice a pattern here? Thanks Dad, you're awesome!) found a particular FPS around the time of Quake. But I'm not talking about Quake, oh no, I'm talking about freaking Duke Nukem 3D.

Oh yeah. Balls of Steel. It's freaking DUKE NUKEM. A relic of the 90's if there ever was one. I'm probably not going to talk about this series any where else, at least not right away, so consider this your Duke Nukem fix. 3D is, shall we say, a crazy game. It is chalk-full of parodies, aliens, babes, weapons, and an ego the size of Uranus. The art alone should clue you in; notice the likeliness to Doom? Yeah, Duke Nukem man. He's got freeze guns, rocket launchers, a shrink-ray, and a jet-pack to boot. Much of what I said about Doom can actually be applied to 3D, so I won't repeat myself, but suffice to say that when I watched and played Duke Nukem 3D, and witnessed an alien soldier using a toilet, first-person shooters haven't really been the same. Mostly good level design, a kick'n soundtrack, and fast paced action make Duke Nukem 3D fantastic! So yeah, even though some of the pop-culture references are outdated, and the whole premise is just really weird and kind of misogynistic, it's a product of it's time, and I still think it can be appreciated as such.

Okay. That's it for now! Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed another trip down memory lane with me, and I wonder if you remember any of these old games? What old PC games do you remember as a kid?

See y'all Monday!