PixlBit

Kneel before Cyberpunk Odin!

In this age of long preview cycles and aggressive PR and marketing campaigns, it can be easy for the video game hype train to go so fast that it flies off the rails. The bigger the game, the bigger the hype, and few titles can ever hope to live up to it. Too Human was a game built on over ten years of increasing hyperbole, and when the game was finally released in 2008 the backlash from gamers and games writers far outpaced the merits of the actual finished product. I’d much rather evaluate games based on their actual strengths and weaknesses as opposed to what they were expected to do, and getting far enough removed from the initial hype allows for that. No, Too Human couldn’t live up to its lofty promises, but it’s also not the atrocity that some people painted it to be.

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Ok, well it's not exactly part one...

So, funny story, I think Backloggers Anonymous is cursed when it comes to handling games designed by Irrational. The reason? Well, this is actually our second first recording for System Shock 2. The first one somehow disappeared from my computer after we recorded it, and the backup is gone too. I half expected SHODAN to email me something like I'VE DELETED YOUR PODCAST, INSECT, but that didn't happen, so I'm gonna chalk it up to the curse.

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It’s time to be honest and admit that games could use more silly, stupid motivations to shoot stuff.

Basing an entire game around a gag is risky. What if the joke isn’t funny? What if it peters out after the first twenty minutes? So much could go wrong centering a game entirely on a goof. Thankfully, Ubisoft Montreal went all in with their giant farce, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and scored a big win.  By weaving well-crafted jokes into a quality shooter, they’ve created the perfect game for fans of satire and game-bullets that should inspire other devs to cool it on the artsy-fartsy stuff every once in a while.

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The PixlBit staff is quite diverse in their gaming passions, and it’s one of my favorite things about writing here. In addition to being “Mr. Final Fantasy” I probably also hold the title of biggest Metal Gear Solid fanatic. Well, I might tie with Patrick Kijek, but MGS is a series that I’ve followed religiously since playing the Japanese Famitsu demo disc way back in 1998. It follows, then, that I should be beyond excited at the announcement of Metal Gear Solid 5, right? While I’m always happy to hear of another main entry in the series directed by Hideo Kojima, I just can’t muster up much enthusiasm for this one. Even the shininess of new console hardware and the Fox Engine can’t get my blood pumping. Why? Chalk it up prequel fatigue, and a longing for what could have been. (Note: The following editorial contains major spoilers for Metal Gear Solid 4. You have been warned.)

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Find out what we'll be talking about on the next Backloggers Anonymous.

And the winner is...

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