Games
Linux for games, Mac for work
At this point, my Thelio from System76 has become an automatic part of my workflow. With my KVM switch, I can instantly switch from work/writing to gaming.
I can happily say that every game I have tried so far has worked smoothly on the Thelio. My latest beefy game was God of War, which worked directly after installing from Steam with a controller without special customizations or any tweaks, and my time with Helldivers 2 has steadily increased to become my second all-time favorite.
Meanwhile, I’m also realizing that my Mac is a superior place for writing, and I don’t have the desire I used to try and make Linux better for it. That position is filled with the apps I use (or must use) and good integration with Emacs. However, I’m probably going to run a virtual Windows environment soon on Linux and use some programs that I want to have in Linux with me (Photoshop, for example) and have a test environment for work.
Mad Max (2015) - ★★★½
I’ve been looking for signs of an alternative ending for Mad Max since last night when I finished it in vain. Maybe happy Hollywood ending spoiled me, I couldn’t just let it end like this. But maybe it’s supposed to end like this, as other pointed out in Reddit and elsewhere; maybe that’s the point. Mad Max is a tragic story of the end of the world, and a man ending with it. To that extent, the game is brilliant.
The game 🎮 is played as Max from a third-person view angle, on foot or in his car. As the game progresses, you advance and upgrade mostly the car but also Max himself, with major upgrades locked until you finish certain missions. I played all of those, main story ones and side ones, and enjoyed them all. The mechanics of the game are responsive and polished for the most part (some of the racing missions force you to use a different vehicle, and those drive like a wet sack of potatoes shot out of a tar-loaded circus cannon); combos land with crunchy satisfaction, car chases end with dramatic explosions with the help of Chumbucket… Chumbucket! Let me rave a bit about the best character in the game, which made the whole story for me.
Chumbucket is a mechanic (“black finger”) hunchback you’re introduced to early in the game, and he’s with you to the end. The voice acting by Jason Spisak is the best in the game, hands down. In my opinion, Chumbucket also has the best backstory too. He gives you tips and direction in the game, acting both as a guide and as an extension of some of the most popular car weapons in the game, like the Harpoon and the Thundersticks.
The game has plenty of those backstory moments, which makes it an excellent supplement to the world in the Mad Max movies, and being able to drive wherever you want and learn more about different sites is an excellent bonus if you love the movies. Max will comment about the different relics you find in the world, and you’ll get more bits and pieces about “The Fall.” Everything from the “big nothing” to the storms, from shipwrecks to enemy camps, oozes with Mad Max style. There were times I stepped out of the car, climbed on a hill somewhere, and admired the view. It’s one of those games you can sink into.
If you like the Mad Max movies, and you have a taste for action post apocalyptic games, you won’t be disappointed. This 2015 title is available on most gaming platforms including macOS and Linux costs less than half of a full AAA game.
Dungeons of Hinterberg (2024) - ★★★½
Dungeons of Hinterberg [DoH] is a chicken soup for the type of mental cold I feel I’m recovering from during these crazy political times. On the surface, it’s another hack-and-slash game with some puzzles sprinkled on top, but as you go deeper into its dungeon, its balanced tempo starts to drift you away.
The game’s high point wasn’t my latest mini-boss fight or when I finally figured out the puzzle in the Jelly caves; it happened when I was sitting next on a wooden bench on top of a cliff, a wooden hut with a straw roof behind me with a couple of cows ruminating grass.
Luisa, the protagonist, sat her sword down and admired the view. As she breathed in the fresh air, I also took a long breath in my chair and let my mind rest from the long list of emails I needed to catch on. Later, when Luisa was ready to go to town and make new friends, I was recharged enough for a little walk outside myself.
DoH is not an excellent action RPG, a visual marvel, or a deep story you’ll remember for months. There are other games for that. Rather, It’s a game about experiencing life. The monsters in the dungeons and the puzzles are well-crafted metaphors for conquering both mental and physical challenges with the help of friends, a good night’s sleep, and well-honed skills you’ve learned in the meantime. The game’s mechanism works like a calm therapist, reminding you that breaks and self-care go a long way in helping you later when you pick up your sword (keyboard) to slay monsters (another set of instructions you need to write, perhaps a piece of code).
Taken in like that, in little dosages between other pressing projects at work, you got yourself an inviting relaxation routine you’d want to adopt. This game is a treat, meant to be taken slowly and with care. Don’t rush it; just relax and enjoy.
While I’m thinking about my blog: soon, a new category in the navigation bar - 🎮 games.
I’ve been using Backloggd for a while, and I understand how to use it better to record progress and mirror my posts here with images. #videogames #gaming #games #blogging #reviews
Pacific Drive (2024) - ★★★★
Pacific Drive is what would happen if Herbie and Subnautica had a child. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen this particular blend of survival-suspense-story mix in a game since Subnautica, and that’s saying a lot.
Instead of a submarine, you drive a station wagon. Instead of aliens underwater, you encountered anomalies on the road. The idea is similar: scan objects, research, get materials, and upgrade. But the mechanics of the game revolve heavily around your car, which you can upgrade (and fix), and the sci-fi story is more engaging with good voice acting.
As a person who got his driving license around the same time the game takes place, the long solitary drives bring back memories, especially with the excellent soundtrack, played as stations on the radio. These fun runs can quickly turn into suspenseful moments, especially during the night. The game also messes with your head with all kind of quirks, and I found myself wondering if i was encountering a bug in game or something planned more than once.
For those who seek challenges, there’s plenty here. Too many, in fact, so I had to tune some of them down. For example, the game won’t let you save mid-drive, and if you quit, you lose all of the stuff you collected. I can understand this as a difficulty option, but this is an unfair punishment if you have to quit the game on a long mission, which can take 2 hours or more.
It’s too bad the game doesn’t have official Linux support, as I believe this game was built for a certain kind of Linux geeks, but it seems to work OK with Linux (or Mac) with Proton enabled. If you’re a sci-fi person who likes suspenseful games with a dosage of crafting, don’t pass this one up. You won’t regret it.
Ads in games soon in fully-priced AAA games
In-game ads are a natural progression of advertising, especially as the gaming industry is expected to grow to $583 billion by 2030. In-game ads are a natural progression of advertising, especially as the gaming industry is expected to grow to $583 billion by 2030.
Unfortunate and maddening but true. In a world where you pay a premium on top of premium to get ad-free experience, paying “only” full price is not enough.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson confirmed the company is considering putting ads in traditional AAA games — titles that players purchase up-front for around $70 apiece.
Games are expensive. Making games is expensive, too. But AAA games always bring in more money than ever, and there are other ways to get people to pay for games. I’m worried about horribly-placed-immersion-breaking ads coming soon to a game near you.
Helldivers 2 Won’t Require A PSN Account On Steam After Massive Player Backlash
This reverse on account linking follows a horrible time for Arrowhead’s devs and community managers, who were forced to manage a massive digital war across Twitter, Reddit, and Discord. The CEO of Arrowhead spent most of the weekend apologizing on Twitter and talking to angry fans.
If Helldivers 2 is popular enough to take over whole towns, then the number of angry comments these developers received is in the thousands. Some people bought the game on Steam in countries where they can’t open an account with PlayStation Network (PSN), which means this forced update would rob them of a favorite game and $50 - since Steam does not refund games that were played for more than 48 hours.
It’s a sweet victory for the players; I just hope the game developers, who have been phenomenal, will be able to recover from all the negative reviews.
I’m playing The Beast Inside 🎮, and I’m at the point I hate the most about games such as these: running away from a monster you can’t kill but can kill you. And when you die, you have to start again from the last save point, going through the whole thing over again, giving up any progress you’ve made.
As I was rage-quitting this time (identified by mashing Alt+F4 and getting up hurriedly with a mumbled cursed in my native tongue), It occurred to me that this sad clichè game developers force on me is the real boss I have to face. Not just in this game, but in all the games of this genre.
“Heh, Maybe I should just play Alien Isolation then,” I muttered to myself, and then, rubbing my beard: “You know, this is not a bad idea…” by which I mean of course it’s a bad idea. A horrible one.
For those who haven’t heard about this game, Alien: Isolation is all about escaping a boss you can’t kill, and one of the biggest bosses as well: the Alien from the movie Alien (a Xenomorph). The Alien, which was praised for its AI in the game, has the ability to search for you by sight and sound (and smell?); it kills you in seconds if it finds you. There’s nothing you can do. The whole game is built around this principle. So, if I manage to win this game, games that only have a segment of this kind of annoyance like The Beast Inside will be a walk in the park.
Image credit: rockpapershotgun.
I decided to uninstall World of Warships again. It’s just too much of a negative experience playing multiplayer (among other things), especially when Helldivers 2 is such a good example of how to do things right.
I want to play Mass Effect (legendary edition), but the keyboard controls are a challenge. I have to play with an open browser: “How do you heal?” “How to crouch behind cover?” “How do you tell a squad member to use an ability on a given point?” feels like the game is intended for controllers.