Howdy ya'll. Blake all up in this shit to tell you what he's been up to. Introductions aren't his strong suit so let's just get to the writing. I'll start with what I've been playing.
Bioshock
I forgot how damn creepy the introduction of this game is, and how much certain Audiologs just made my skin crawl. Some of the things the Splicers do in the early game are just fucking horrific, in a "holy shit this is awesome" sort of way. Then once you get to Arcadia the game stops being super creepy and starts being kinda bland. I'll push through, because I remember a bit with a certain musician being awesome, but for now it's just meh.
Still like 10 billion times better than Bioshock Infinite.
Also, now they've patched it to remove Vita-Chambers, the game is much more engaging. Enemies feel like a threat, it's great!
But seriously, FUCK HOUDINI SPLICERS!
Ziltoid the Omniscient - Devin Townsend
Bought this album the other day. Holy fuck it's AMAZING! It's a rock opera Metal Opera about an alien named Ziltoid who threatens to destroy earth unless he is given earth's ultimate cup of coffee, as he's been going to other planets to find all of the universe's greatest cups of coffee and come back to his planet to prove how much of a badass rockstar he is.
Yeah. It's ridiculous. But it's Devin Townsend, so the music is amazing. I don't know why people call him a metal musician though, because in most of the albums I buy of his, it's like the first three songs are heavy as fuck and then BAM! Acoustic shit. Or soft rock. Or J-pop. Or whatever the fuck Devin feels like on that day, because he's not overly good at staying in one genre. He is, however, awesome at music. Just check this out:
V/H/S/2
Yeah, the first one wasn't that great, but holy shit this one is awesome! I guess the talent involved speaks for itself, as you've got the guys from The Blair Witch Project, The Raid, and You're Next each contributing. Basically, it's an Anthology Horror project, an outlet for genre veterans to make the crazy crap that would never make a full length film. We have a guy who gets a mechanical eye that allows him to see dead people, which, truth be told is the weakest entry. Unfortunately it's also the first entry. Actually, the first bit of this film, the framing narrative, the first story - it's kinda rubbish.
It's not until the second short story kicks off that things get fucking fantastic. There is one about a guy who is out riding on his pushbike who gets bitten by a zombie. The catch is that he's wearing a gopro, so we see through his perspective the entire time. It's darkly hilarious, especially when it climaxes in him attacking a children's birthday party.
After that is a much more serious effort... holy fuck. All I'm going to say is that it is creepy and fucking intense. It's a film crew looking into cult lead by a man who may or may not be having sexual relations with children. Just watch it, even if it's on youtube. It's call Safe Haven, and Jesus fucking christ is it awesome.
Anyway, that's enough for me. I'm off to eat dinner. Bye.
I'm quite enjoying what i've played of Bioshock.
I need to hear more of Devin Townsend, so I may start with Ziltoid.
Listen to all of his stuff. It's all so damn different though.
I like Bioshock, but I'm not so far into it. Maybe it would have been a better movie or short story. I think it's a groundbreaking game though, don't get me wrong. I just feel like some of the game elements get in the way of the atmosphere and story... the shooting feels kind of sloppy, but maybe that's because I'm playing with joystick and have lately been playing shooters with a mouse on my computer.
Thos audio logs are in like every game now...
Yeah. The System Shock series really pioneered those, and they carried over into Bioshock. Bioshock's ones are all worth listening to though, as some of them are just plain awesome.
I don't mind the shooting. It's not that bad, and the plasmids do make up for it a bit.
You're a Townsend fan!?
Nick and I and going to meet up and see him in New York City this Decemeber, can't fucking wait man!
That is awesome! Man, wish I could see him, I fucking adore him you lucky punk.
As do I. He's truly a great musician, and I think it's crazy for of how few know of him and his music.
I'm hoping to do a meet and greet with him in December, so hopefully I'll have some sweet pics taken with him
Yeah. I'm surprised you guys know him. I didn't take you for a prog metal fan.
Surprisingly, I listen to a bit of everything. I was actually introduced to his music through his previous band, Strapping Young Lad
True enough. I'm even more surprised you discovered him through SYL given how heavy and dissonant they can be. I've been blasting AAA from City all week though. Sounds like the SYL version of a Rob Zombie song.
Ah yes!! City is by far my favorite SYL album!
If Almost Again were on it instead of New Black, I'd say it would've been perfect!
Yeah, City and Alien are generally agreed as the best. Almost Again does kind of sound like a solo DT song though.
I need to start playing Bioshock one of these days.
Yes. Yes you do.
Bioshock actually held my interest because it was a story driven game and not just running around shooting everything that moves. I never finished it because I started getting lost and looping through areas I'd already been for some reason. Then I stopped playing. I did like the atmosphere of the game a lot
I have yet to play more than the first hour of Infinite so I can't really compare.
Bioshock is great... for one playthrough. Once you know the story it's kind of bland. The shooting mechanics are dull and there's not much to distract yourself.
Thanks Ben, now I have to watch Metalocalypse again...
Twice I've tried to play through Biosock. Twice I gave up and played better games. The thing starts feeling like a repetitive chore at about the same point. It's the kind of game that convinces me that short games are not a bad thing.
Things do pick up again a bit later, but christ, for a while it does feel like a slog. It is worth finishing though, as holy shit things escalate and it does have one of the best plots in gaming and one of the best deconstruction of gaming narratives this side of Spec Ops: The Line.
I really like Bioshock and Infinite but my favorite in that series is Bioshock 2. Better story, much better ending, and better combat overall. The combat is the perfect in-between for people who think Bioshock 1 is too slow, and who think Infinite is too arena-combat and overwhelming. The combat in Bioshock 2 hits a nice median speed because of the dual-wielding and the types of plasmids and weapons they chose to add. By the time you have a lot of the weapons and higher upgrades of plasmids, encounters can get fucking nuts, they're really entertaining to engage with and crazy to look at visually when you're fighting multiple opponents and using mines, traps, charged up plamids that chain together to hit several enemies, and blasting away with weapons all at the same time.
The Minerva's Den DLC by itself is fantastic. There are moments in Minerva's Den that make it a better Bioshock experience than Bioshock 1, 2, and Infinite all put together.
People keep saying that, but I've yet to get past the first hour as the first gun feels so underwhelming to use it feels bland. I'll give it another go sometime though.
After playing Bioshock three or four times a while back, the world started to get to me psychologically. It was making me paranoid just like the splicers and I had to stop.
Fair. It is a pretty fucked up game.
Bioshock is creepy. I went back to finish it after I beat Infinite.
Fuck yes for Devin Townsend! The man is a musical genius, can't wait to see him in December with Chris. Was rocking out to Ocean Machine: Biomech on the way to work this morning. Looking forward to Z2, which I think is dropping in like October or November. More ZIltoid can't possibly be a bad thing.
Yes, I'm looking forward to Z2 as well! Have you heard Casualties of Cool yet? If so what are your thoughts? I haven't heard it yet, but it's Devin Townsend making country which could be interesting.
Casualties of Cool was good stuff. It's definitely a different thing for Devin, but it kind of matches up with Ki and Ghost as it's not all country/bluegrass stuff. It's definitely catchy so I've given it probably three spins at this point. I've been wanting to hear it again now that it's been a couple weeks since I first listened, so we'll see how that goes.
I appreciate that Devin's stuff spans the spectrum and his style really ties it all together. Whether it's extreme metal, progressive, pop, ambiance, or this bluegrass/country stuff, it's all got him written all over it.
True. I'll definitely give it a spin. May I ask what your favourite of his albums is? Sorry, it's rare I find someone who listens to the same music as me unless I'm on a music site haha.
Man, that's a tough one to choose. I really love Ocean Machine: Biomech, but both Addicted and Epicloud are so tight, they're hard to ignore.
Infinity and Synchestra have a lot of stuff I really enjoy, as does Deconstruction and Ziltoid. They aren't as great as some of the aforementioned albums, but they're better than a lot of other stuff just in general.
Honestly, and I know this is kind of a cop out, but The Retinal Circus is such a great cross-section of his career, I might just have to say that. Plus Anneke is there for like, the whole concert, which is great for a variety of reasons.
How about you?
I'd have to go Terria, more because it was the first one I heard, and I have a shirt that says "Eat Your Beets, RECYCLE!" which is fucking awesome. Other than that... probably Addicted, just because it's so damn fun.
Oh... and City from SYL. Because that album is amaing. I really need to see The Retinal Circus...
Although, Deconstruction does have a fuckton of guest appearances from musicians I like, such as the frontmen from Opeth, Gojira, Ihsahn, and Cynic.