A friend of mine found a way to cheese this boss out of getting into the next phase. Usually has two different attacks which makes him throw bombs out which helps him transition to the next phase. I don’t explain it well, check the description of the video to learn more.
Classics
Saturday Night Oldies with Big Cid–Remembering Charlie Watts
Good Day,
I’m quite aware that it is Tuesday and not Saturday. The tragic event of today would not let me wait until Saturday. i’m seldom this moved to do a midweek presentation no matter the event in the musical world however there are times when the shock is just too much for me. This is one of those times.
As I read this morning of the passing of Charlie Watts, the drummer for The Rolling Stones I’m left with a sense of loss. Not only do the Stones now have no bassist but they have no drummer.
I’m old enough to remember music before any “British Invasion”. I have the first 45 The Rolling Stones issued in the states. “Tell Me (You’re Coming Back to Me) I’ve seen them live over 40 years ago!
I know that The Rolling Stones were not ONLY “The Worlds’s greatest Rock and Roll Band” but they were also the best of all of the British Invasion Bands.
Herman’s Hermits, Gerry and The Pacemakers, The Who, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five…..none were as good as The Rolling Stones!! What made them great was the rhythm section of Watts and Wyman. No other band could boast that and no other could compare.
And they are touring THIS YEAR!! 60 years after being formed as a band by Brian Jones.
Now half of that duo has passed on. Charlie has been silenced. Bill has quit the band for reasons I never did understand. ( I never wished to read his book “A Stone Alone” explaining why!)
As for their first US Single it is also one of their best songs ever. (and prob. one many never heard!)
Notice how the singers are singing in different keys? Or how the harmonic dissonance makes this work?Also notice what Charlie and Bill brought to this to drive this hit home.
But no more.
(As an aside in this post, done alone without Robert of Kimberly, I’m not focusing so much on the popularity of a song but rather Charlie’s drumming and the rhythm section altogether. There will be a better time to celebrate the hits of the band. This is also presented with no interruptions–Cid)
We come to an end of this tribute to Charlie Watts and really the rhythm section that was Charlie and Bill Wyman for so long. It may be fitting to includes “Start me Up”, one of the best drumming efforts of Charlie, And yet it seems to be in bad taste to do so. And while “The Last Time” would seem to be a good outro I have chosen something else as that too hit a bit close being disrespectful.
Many of you may not be Stone’s fans. I understand that. And yet I can’t let this moment go without this oldie post.
RIP Charlie
—Cid out
Outro—-
The Reviews for Saturday Night Oldies with Big Cid are in–and they are Phenomenal!
before I begin know that I am referring to the recent post of Ricky Nelson Music found here-
I seldom brag about my show; my posts but I truly love this show and so do many others. Today. Tuesday saw the most activity for it since the day it was released. That is because word of mouth about this is getting around. I see 3 here-and a guest have liked it. I’m not sure if any listened to it as it was meant to be listened to of the Fusers were have- many others have though.
I’m also not sure if any pending comment on the program are waiting for approval. but that is fine if they were declined.
To sum up my feelings on it I posted this on FB today regarding the show ( I have a private account!)
“I no longer share of myself here. I no longer post my poetry or my prose for a fb audience. Some general thoughts get put out as a lead in to a story by a news agency but that is as far as it goes.I
find it devastating and disheartening. The blood, tears and sweat I put into a poem or a prose writing is wasted posting it here where 14 out of 155 friends see it. A failure of technology far as I’m concerned. I write FOR others and others-at least here- never see it or never appreciate it. Fb is brutal for artists. Twitter and IG by nature can be boon for an artist no matter how they are an artist.
So it is with deep regret and hesitation that I share my “Saturday Night Oldies with Bid Cid” here.
I’m sharing it because in 10 years of doing these on different networks I’ve never been so personal in a broadcast. Never. I am to entertain- or present music that entertains and not speak of myself and of tears I sometimes endure.
But I can’t—….I can’t…I love Ricky Nelson far too much to do a disservice to him, his memory and his music. I can’t be as a moderator when it affects me so deeply. I have to write of my heart and let the blood flow where ever it will.
For new listeners one is to read me, listen and continue to do so. This is not a “pick and choose to hear my faves only”. After that is done if it is liked make a playlist of it. (Although you will be missing my excellent dialogue-which I write myself each week!!! Think on that. Impromtu script writing weekly!) So one has to bear with as this is like a radio post but in text and videos.
Those that take the time to listen to Ricky and to read of me , Thank You. Thanks to the 18 that saw this and the ones tagged that I thought may care but may have missed this. It’s rough;y 40 minutes long.
–Cid out”
I think that speaks the truth of me as best as i can relate it. However I’m sharing some compliments that this show got from twitter, email, Similar Worlds and fb itself. While many here may not appreciate Ricky he is widely loved and this homage to his music is just phenomenal.
I listened to the entire show 8 times. I never do that. And I read myself each time as i did-each time finding something new to move me in some way, I sat as each song played in it;s entirely and when it ended–I cried with the exact same words I wrote. Words that should not move me.
The reviews—
“This is pretty cool.” —twitter
“Thanks for showing me this.”–twitter
“Oh, that’s a poignant ending.“–twitter
“I read the entire thing, and have it bookmarked on my InterWebz Searcher Device to go back to it.”–twitter
“
Thanks for the link, I’ll check it out. Hope all is well in your world. Always liked Ricky Nelson.
Peaches · F
Great job!
I never realized he died on New Year’s eve.
He was only 45…so sad! Wonder where he would be today? I really like the one he did by Hank Williams.
I would have left a comment there, but I’m not ready to take on another website at this point. Take care of yourself….I need to get over your way and check out some of your stories. HUGS—From Similar Worlds“Ricky Nelson! Who knew? Enjoyed reading this thanks!–from email….
There are more but you get the idea. People loved this a lot as many feel as I do in many ways. It may not have been the hit I expected on fuse or even WP but it was one outside of the network.
I replied to one that loved it —“Seldom, in 10 years of doing these have I ever got so personal. This was more of a love letter to the audience and myself than a homage to Ricky.”
Seldom, in 64 years have I been able to continually move myself so much in what I wrote and how I wrote it.
—Cid Out
Saturday Night Oldies with Big Cid-Ricky Nelson on Imperial; a Retrospective of a Legend.
Hello all,
On Thursday last Bob and I were sitting in the studio after shifts and I said that “We need to get back to Saturday Night Oldies” and “that we need to pick themes for some upcoming shows”. I was leaning towards doing some “Spring” orientated shows featuring music that became hits in the Springtime but that was as far as I got in that line of thinking.
“Alexis”, he looks at me sternly, clearly his recovery from COVID has not slowed those piercing eyes down a bit, “do the show that you LOVE more than any other. The one you LIVE TO DO!”
“And that is?” I knew what he would say but it was always nice to hear him say it.
“Just do the “Ricky Nelson on Imperial ” show. You’ve done it 4 times before on open and closed networks and each time those that listened to it loved it. You know you want to” Well he was right. I have been wanting to do that.
“Yes but those audiences were older and appreciated it more. I’m not so sure this would go over well here although I think some may dig it” Ok..It was decided. This I could do on my own-in my sleep if need be.
Now to preface this long ago artists were defined by their labels or the labels they recorded for. Sinatra recorded for Columbia records, RCA, Capitol and Reprise (a company he founded) And on each label he was decidedly different in tone and message. Johnny Cash recorded for Sun and Columbia. Bob Dylan has only recorded for Columbia.(however it was not Columbia that defined Dylan but rather the personal at the studio at different time periods) The Stones would record for Abcko and then Rolling Stones Records. They also had two distinct sounds per label.
As did Ricky Nelson. Ricky had one hit before signing with Imperial , a great company of the 50’s and early 60 that also featured Fats Domino, Sandy Nelson ( no relation) and Slim Whitman. When Ricky turned 21 he saw himself claiming his independence and he changed his name to “Rick”. A small change but it meant so much. He would fulfill his contract out with Imperial. In youthful stupidness he signed a 30 year contract with Decca where he faltered badly after the first three LP’s. What could go wrong? A lot. On Imperial EVERYTHING went RIGHT!
This is a look back at those years and namely those when he was “Ricky”.
We start off tonight with one that is personal to me for I am that fool-still, 50 years later. I never changed. This is one of my theme songs. This is from Ricky’s first LP for Imperial. The last song, side two.
It’s in the last two songs that we see that one of Ricky’s strong point’s was Rockabilly. Some see him as an Elvis copy. I see him far more talented than Elvis as this is a talent that came natural to Ricky where with Elvis it was forced and packaged. Ricky was better than him in sheer talent. He also had looks Elvis would kill for. (Those eyes! Those Lips!)
I own this LP. It was given to me long ago by the one aunt that truly cared for me.
This next song was written by old Hank. Hank Williams, Sr. It has always evoked a strong emotion in me-even since I was a teen. If I let–at times I can easily cry with this. Grab a tissue and a Coke and listen children.
A bit more rock than Rockabilly. I love the transformation. Leaving this LP-for now I’m present a song I was singing, by memory, since I was 2 .Yes 2. I could not ask for a drink of water BUT I could sing any Ricky song-by heart- upon hearing it. I was called “Little Ricky” by many.
It’s also the first song I learned on a guitar.
Here we see he that is no longer a “Poor Little Fool” . Or is he?
There were a number of singles that Ricky released that never appeared on an Lp until years later in compilations. This was not the practice for that time but the decision of what to put on an Lp-and what to keep off was tantamount in those days. I own this original 45 . It was not on “Rick is 21” at the time.
We now go to Ricky, his guitar and his tear jerking elegance of “Lonesome Town” as we get close to winding this down.
This is a song I used to perform decades ago when I did perform..
In 1961 Ricky became Rick. The music was more worldly and not of a teen longing for love or fighting heartbreak after heartbreak or of teen loves gone bad. He would record for Imperial until 1963 when he signed with Decca. Sparse singles from Imperial would show up as releases on the label until 1965 but they were of older material.
Here he sings of Traveling and it seem he has no shortage of girls all over the world.
Like most artists of the day Ricky also put out a 6 song EP of Spiritual Music. Elvis, Cash, Orbison, and every other major artist paid some homage to religious and spiritual music. This is one of Ricky’s.
And sadly we come to an end of this-a loving look at Ricky and what he was at Imperial and the songs that will forever live in the hearts of many that loved him. It was a golden age of music, where a rockabilly artist could also sing love ballads one minute and have us feel as if we were at a revival the next. Where a rocker was never afraid to show a soft and vulnerable side. And when sheer, natural talent meant more that just having a pretty face.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is hard for me to end. I don’t want it to(end) but even a presentation has restrictions.
Bob was right. He knew it and so did I. In truth I never get tired of offering up this presentation and those like it with Ricky.
He was 17 years older than me as he was born in 1940. I came out of the womb singing him. I’ve never stopped.
He died on New Year’s Eve 1985. He was 45. Now I’m over 17 years older than him and it breaks my heart.
Ladies, gentleman, thanks for listening. “Young World” ends this with “Sweeter Than You” the fade out…..
Cid out!
#NationalPoetryMonth; Celebrating the Spoken Word Poetry of Sarah Kay, Sabrina Benaim, Kevin Kantor, Reagan Myers and Phil Kaye
I’m a poet. I have been since my teens and I’m in my mid 60’s. I have been published twice in UK publications. At 64 I would not know how to get authorship of a book in the US. Poetry has sustained me on long lonely nights for many decades. It has brought solace introspected with regret and a bittersweet feeling of life’s lessons. My favorite posts are Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost, Anne Sexton and Audre Lorde.
However it is not written poetry of those authors I wish to celebrate. One can read them at their will and i would like to think many do. What interests me in this remembrance are spoken word poets that exist to heal, nurture, preach their truth, and offer an emotional release for those that may need it.
I have found that writing poetry is cathartic and self cathartic. They exist side by side as one but separate. I find the same in inspired spoken word poetry by one who is comfortable delivering their message. Staceyann Chin is excellent at this as a lesbian woman I truly loved her performance when I saw and met her. If this site appreciated the art of protest I would post her easily.
That honour goes to Sarah Kay and those that came up after her and were inspired one way or another BY her.
I saw her live with Phil Kaye (no relation) two months ago their first virtual stream. It cost $35 for a ticket and it was well worth it.
Enjoy the selections of her and the others I spoke of in the title. Some are quite painful. Others I would offer a CW to as one involves male on make rape. An issue that needs to be spoken about me to make it a normalized topic.
This is one I love to read as much as hear. She performed this when I saw her live.
Be careful-and put some thought-into what you give away.
Switching gears we turn to Sabrina Benain. Both of these are form her excellent “Depression and Other Magic Tricks” The first a light hearted and fun intro and the second is the one more return to again and again.
I think with the chaos the world is in now many can relate to what was just presented.
This is tragic. This makes the whole fb”friends” issue seem unreal. This is a truth poem like the last and it is a hard listen.
I love the casualness of Phil Kaye.
Be-fire I wind this Sarah Kay again i need to present Reagan Myers in one of the most powerful spoken words performances ever. This one-as with other heard here. always brings me to tears. tears are a way of knowing you are ALIVE!
Was that enough of a roller coaster ride of emotion for you ? It was for me.
Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye end this on a much lighter note. But one that speaks such honest truth.
I wrote a poem-‘”Thoughts of Postcards Sent” that was loosely based on this. I told Sarah that and she was pleased.
Now go read some poetry of your own.. Better yet, write some….
What if They Made A Console and No One Cared; inside the lonely life of a reluctant PS3 gamer.
I rather detest writing this. Really do. My goal was to write one editorial per week with the hopes to entertain, educate and inform. That was accomplished earlier in the week with a post that spoke of neglected gods, news that never get reported and more. Yet here I am when I should be catching up on the multitude of books I have waiting for me.
If you had read my last column I spoke of the changes soon coming to the PS3, PSP and PS Vita store. I see this as stupidity on SONY’s part. If you missed it I spoke of Jim Ryan and SCEA, (the division that oversees SEL) and how SONY is shutting sown the PS3 and PSP store. The expense SONY will save over a year, 5 or even 10 tears is minimal. This is a move that serves no one yet spites many.
I turned on my PS3 this week. The first time in a long time. How long you may ask? Let’s just say I played ( or loaded) SIXTY-FOUR games into my PS4 since I had a trophy on my PS3. That long!!! Skyrim was the last to see a trophy on the console. I was amazed at this number-no–shocked is a better word. How could that be when I loved my PS3??? Imagine the neglect it felt….
I was close to tears as I looked back at the control bar and started to rediscover all I had there. All that I COULD not have on my PS4. Songs by The Killers, (“Here With You” for one.) Nat King Cole, Dion and The Belmonts and Francoise Hardy.. You can’t do that with a PS4. Even “Big Iron” the Marty Robbins classic from Fallout: New Vegas was there.
Then there were the pics. Some sent by friends of my son, other saved over the internet by me. Each having some sort of value. So many I had forgotten about. Next was the shows and movies we had downloaded. Some of them one cannot even rent anymore. The Walking Dead episodes, a Bleach movie and more.
When did functionality leave SONY consoles??
Then came the games, the free ones and the ones we paid for. So many of those I had forgot about as well. I sought out Saints Row The Third as I wanted to get a trophy on my PS3 just to piss my PS4 off. I got two. Besides, I love that game.
Seeing PS LIfe, the virtual study we could take place in was one thing but seeing PS Home- a place I loved as much as any game was hard. It was social media when social media was in it’s infancy. All the cool stuff we bought- to wear or decorate with-gone. MS never had this. MS is not classy enough. Nintendo did do something close but it never caught on. I am referring to the Nintendo World program. on the WiiU.
I played that system for three days. In three days time not a single friend came on to it in my circle! I was the only one online. Of course they could have been playing and remained off line but with all PS players now having to have PS + that seems remote. I did see @nightcrawlerash on for second and then she was gone. She was the only sign of life I saw. I sent her a message. I was never replied to. I was not surprised.
Today, Saturday I went back to the PS4. I wanted to see my PS3 trophies represented. However one had to accept the new system update from SONY. In the old days of Fuse the update did would be posted. I can say that while there are improvements the “Communities” tab and section is gone. I rather liked communities.
What if they made a console and no one cared? Why do more care about a PS1 or PS2 more? Do we shun older technology that quickly? Are gamers that fickle?
I think I prefer consoles best when they had no “friends online” icon.
–Cid, the lonely PS3 gamer
When speaking of the Persona Series in my last column I forgot to mention that May 25th is the release date for the newly HD Remastered version of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturine for the PS4. The game was originally a PS2 game with a Devil May Cry character in. The below link will give the reader more info.
Lastly, for those that never thought PS Home never meant much to the PS community I leave you with the last few minutes of that wonderful escape–as only PS3 gamers could remember it. You know..the forgotten and invisible ones that were cancelled.
“The moon is close. It will be a long hunt tonight.”
Happy 6th Birthday to the only game that truly mattered on the PS4(even at 30 fps)
Saturday Night Oldies with Big Cid- the Mini Play
About a month ago (maybe longer) I get an email from Mata. Talks between us havew decreased over time. That’s to be expected as our lives have far different challenges. But the emails reads “Hey Cid, you haven’t done a Saturday Night Oldies show for a LONG time. I had to look it up. It ‘s been a “long, long, while” to quote The Rolling Stones you love so much. What gives with that? I used to love those broadcasts, Still do. I get into them. I just put on on repeat- ya know-make a playlist and let it wash over me.Music is great when life is hard. I miss Bob and Kimberly. Bob always had a way of cracking me up. Say what’s with them? You never speak of them. Hey anyway. why not do a short mini set of some early or forgotten 70’s jams. Remember that one you did that had the James Gang in? One like that. I hope you are well and that your son did not get COVID. Does he still come to your house since he lives with his Mother mostly? I’m beat..Tired, Gotta get some sleep. Think about it.”
He says a bit more and ends the talk. Bob and Kimberly are fine both both of Bob’s children a son and a daughter had tested positive for COVID- both recovered, Kimberly is trying to have a spring wedding but planning is very difficult. You need to understand stigger that with the pandemic it is hard to get everyone (all 7 of us) in the studio to do a show that we do not need TO do.
And while you will say this is “not hard enough” or your liking it is some lost gems and forgotten classics that I could come up with. ( After all I’m not posting Dokken!) However, as I have to do this on my own with no support this is just a mini set. A mini playset. And no–it’s not headbanging–but I’m sure Mr. @satoed2 will enjoy this if not you .
We start with Graham Nash who I always thought was better solo that as part of CSN or CSNY. This was a song of revolution at the time,
Changing things up a bit this a Black Sabbath soing I loved back in the day, ( One of Bob’s fave as well as he has all Sabbath EVER did. I was more in Zeppelin and Yes than Oz but at least he could still speak at this point in time.) This was hugely popular on FM radio back in the day.
This has a bit if that funky grunge that is gone form music now. It was a song I consider posting had I done a “1971 retrospective (Part Three)”
We begin the second half of this with a band that achieved fame in the second half of the 1970’s. Firefall And “Strange Ways”
It hard to pinpoint what exactly was the best era of Bob Seger’s Career. Was it in the 1960’s with The Bob Seger System or was it when he was solo? Was in in the mid 70’s with the Silver Bullet Band or the 80’s when his music had a more profound sound of lost sentiments. I think it was in mid 70’s when the all members of The Silver Bullet Band were alive. Speaking of alive here they are– live.
I’m ending this here with one of the most forgotten songs of the 1970’s but also on of the most loved. For years when the band was out of print this song was hard to find and impossible to buy-even digitally. I’m glad legal issues were settled.
As a translesbian I can say I WISH I had a “distant fire” in my life as the smoke I could tolerate. This ends this for tonight and I hope it pacified the savage beast (Mata) After this the outro is THE BEST ROCK BALLAD of the 70’s( Hint: I’t’s not “FrerBird” or “Stairway to Heaven”)
Cid out.
Feet Don’t Fail Me
Life is harder that’s why no one survives. I’m much older than I thought I’d be
Got My Mind Set On You – George Harrison
It’s gonna take money, a whole lot of spending money. It’s gonna take plenty of money.
Just Cause
I never played Just Cause Now that is an odd thing to say given the title. It means I never played the Just Cause game for the PS2 and I have no desire to much less a desire to seek it out. Please remember I never had a PS2. Then. Now I do but that is only because it is used- as is the controller and memory card. Nothing about this system speaks “mine!”
In the first third of the PS3 life Just Cause 2 came out and I HAD TO HAVE IT! I was sold on it just form the two videos SE and Avalanche Studios put out! I NEEDED this.I am as much an Action gamer as I am an RPG or Hack and Slash gamer. I need that release that a GOOD action game can delivered and Just Cause 2 seemed to be a good Action game. Pointless destruction I definitely needed in my life.
I paid the extra 99 cents for Amazon to deliver that to on “day of release” Anyone remember when that was a thing? That was at a time when Prime was only for rich people and preppies. Tech heads that needed it for no reason. I could not wait to get into this!
I loved it. I may love it best of all as it had so much Just Cause 3 and 4 are lacking-namely FUN! Just Cause was FUN! It met the standards of WHAT a game should be!! Rico Rodriquez was awesome as a hero and character and the informant we all loved to hate, Sheldon was great in that title as well. There was even a whorehouse in the sky! how awesome is that! Of course the chapter that is in is a rather cool shootout! It was not the kind of game that defined SE or even Avalanche -and the 8’s it was rated MAY have been a tad overly much –but it was addictive as well as fun! There was some great discovery in that game as well.
Then Came Just Cause 3 and it was hated by those of us that loved the previous game. The fun was gone. Now we had to rely on being super good at challenges to advance our gear, weapons, methods of travel and more.. Not only that the things that made boats, cycles and cars coll was locked UNTIL we gained so any gears in challenges. Rico was still cool and the movement of it was great
And it had some redeeming valises then but we would not know of them until Just Cause 4 for the PS4. Knowing WHAT we had to do in a town for it to be 100% ours was a nice touch and the radio as Towns were captured was humorous. DeRavillo was a villain that was east to hate. Finding tombs, tapes and more made the exploration fun and the middleware use was great. Just like in Just Cause 2 it FELT like an island. (or islands) If you wanted carnage this was OK but challenges forced to waste most of our time.
Now Just Cause 4 is free in the US on the PS4. Of course I got it and what are my standards-what am I comparing it to?? Just Cause 2 as I want more. And–( and no tell) me but I hear the whorehouse in the sky is also in this as well!! I know there are some cool Easter Eggs in it but I hardly ever find them.
and I have no idea what the studio or SE were thinking with this as it has no rhyme or reason. It just exists. It’s as if it’s incomplete parts and many designs that are not that great! This game is more about conquering than exploring Medeci or the JC 2 lands. It has feats AND challenges and the feats are dumb! They mean nothing unless they are tied to an in game reward. I miss the garages in JC3 where I could unlock Cars, Cycles, Planes,. tractors, (Yes, farm tractors) and boats. Maybe they are there but I am not far enough in it. Just Cause 3 is starting to look like a near masterpiece compared to Just Cause 4 and JC2 IS the Masterpiece. Just Cause 4, for those of us old enough to remember the excitement surrounding Just Cause 2 is a disappointment.
If one does not remember that they may find the game fun. Rico, and unfortunately, Sheldon are still present. And Rico does seems to move a bit better but not always.
I have seem that Far Cry has adapted itself more to the Just Cause style of play and has abandoned some of what the original Far Cry and the Wii version interesting .
I really WANT to like Just Cause 4. So far—-I can’t.
And I hate that!
Abstract DOUBLE Review – Dusk and Doom Eternal
Okay, this review has been on my mind and has been a bane to my existence and has been eating away at me as well as the thought of another game. So in turn, I will try to talk about both of these games due to the fact that they created their own genre in the genre they were inspired by. This is a double review of Dusk and Doom Eternal. Please do note that I am not saying they are the same game. They are completely different and will talk about them separately in sections in each critique category. Anyways, I hope you enjoy my first ever duel review and wish me luck.
Intro
Dusk is inspired by multiple FPS games in the genre: Blood, Quake, Doom, Rise of the Triad, etc.. But because the game is inspired by so much, it’s basically it’s own brew of game. It’s not a clear clone of any other game, no one can really identify the game and everyone labels it differently. I’ve seen people compare the game to Half-Life which is a strange comparison to me and the single dev, David Szymanski has said it was a strange thing anyone can say. It’s a stew that I thought I would never see at all. Now everyone’s trying to be like Dusk, cashing in on the nostalgia look. I mean look at Strafe and Amid Evil, both games with different appeal and critical acclaim. Seriously, Strafe was a massive let-down to me. Anyways, the game is a great dive into atmospheric horror and cheesy action that leaves me craving for more. It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played and has so much charm that the game is fucking stunning regardless of the limitations David had.
Now Doom is a game that helped a lot of people when it came out, in the height of the quarantine and all. The game is both an amazing technical marvel and a spin of gameplay that destroyed my expectations of the game. It’s so brutal and challenging that it defies my understanding of the FPS genre as a whole. It made me realize that the genre is so flexible that it could be anything. I don’t know how I didn’t notice that since the Doom community has done that already to the original Doom 1 and 2 games. It almost made me feel like an idiot with how much it opened my eyes. It’s so awesome on how it executes gameplay and it makes previous Id engines look so inferior. My PC with specs from 2017 was able to play with no crashes or slowdowns. There were hiccups, but they were practically minor. If you were to do that with Wolfenstein: New Order with a low-end computer for the time, it would lose assets, destroy triggers and make the game fucking die within seconds. It’s a feat that I respect and love. I appreciate and respect the hell out of this game.
Gameplay
Dusk is this strange brew, like a homemade beer that your uncle made that tastes unique. You can definitely taste the flaws, but it’s good enough to drink to and ask for more when you meet your uncle again. It’s such a great piece of work that you can’t really judge too harshly. It’s a good enough game to play safe, taking the level slow and paced, trying to take out of all the enemies with the least amount ammo wasted. Or just play the game like fucking Arnold “The Man” Schwarzenegger in Commando, blasting bitch cultists and telling abominations’ the let off some steam. The gameplay is so versatile that it can be played by newbies who’ve never played an FPS in their life. It’s so good! All the while making challenging gameplay and beautiful set pieces. The weapon variety helps with the gameplay since they’re so simple in design yet they’re so complex when you use them correctly.
Shotguns are used like every other game, but meshes it with the movement making it a good primary for most battles in the game. Super Shotgun is slow like most in the genre, but has such an impact that it can single out almost everything in a few shots, but comes with a risk of singling out one enemy out of the dozens in display in some levels. Machine gun is good for aerial attacks, trying to maintain grunts at a range without trying to waste too much ammo aiming. Crossbow although can be looked over at first glance, destroys crowds with just a few shots due to the sole fact that it penetrates through everything. And I mean, EVERYTHING. Walls, roofs, floors, rocks, doors, EVERYTHING. It’s so simple in design, yet it feels so useful in so many situations. The only drawback to this weapon is the fact that the ammo is very scarce, almost like the Riveter, but I’ll get to that later.
I think the only weapon I feel is the most useless (to me at least) is the Mortar. I never liked pill launchers in any game, Quake 3’s grenade launcher was the least used in my weapon roster. I am called an idiot for doing that, but I never could get any good use out of them. The Mortar has some tech to them like pressing the alternate fire button detonates the pills early, just I could never get it to land on my end. I’ve seen clips of speedrunners landing their pills spot on while making me feel like an infant compared to them, so I know it’s just me. I think a better alternative is a bounce mechanic would do nicely, but that’s my choice of pill launchers. Maybe have it bounce off walls, but when it touches the ground it immediately detonates. But I can see that being a bit easy. Probably would have to encourage corner shots through game design, which would mean changing a lot of the levels, which I do not want. In short, I ignore the Mortar because I am an idiot who doesn’t know who to use it properly. The Riveter is basically this game’s BFG, a weapon of ultimate power with little ammunition to justify use on grunt. It’s reserved for those who act as a wall in your mission to act on your revenge for the life they stole from you. Merely death upon the sight of this godly weapon, those who challenge it will regret the thought the moment the trigger is pulled. This weapon is the beast you see in every gameplay footage on Youtube that makes you go “Holy shit!” and feel the satisfying gibs this thing leaves. My father walked past my computer as I used it and went “Holy Fuck” as I decimated a Cowgirl. It’s weird to think that this godly beast of a weapon was supposed to be the standard Rocket Launcher like in any other shooter since the Riveter is so good against anything big enough to take three Super Shotgun and live. The weapon is limited to the amount of ammo you receive, so god will shine when he needs to. There was a BFG planned but development time was short and not much time was there to create one, so we have the one thing that is close to a BFG to the dev. This begs the question though: if the Riveter was gonna be a standard Rocket Launcher and seeing how much it destroys everything, what the fuck would a BFG be like? Only Oshry would know.
Now a few things to add: power-ups. It’s a retro FPS, of course it’s got power-ups. There is two useful ones like the Fast Fire Totem and the Serum of Blistering Heat. Fast Fire Totem is as it says, it makes you shoot fast than usual and can stack if you catch more than one totem at once, but that is like some speedrunning shit you got to practice for. You can make your Machine Gun becomes a Gatling Gun to a fucking Vulcan mounted on a Firebird, but seeing it on the first try is hard as hell. The Serum of Blistering Heat is… Well… Civvie said it well, it’s just Super Hot as a power-up. Time only moves when you move, so play the game slow as hell, observe your surroundings since where it’s placed is mostly in hard as hell encounters, so use it well and think long and hard. There is the Climbing thing (it’s actually called that in the Dusk wiki), which allows you to climb any surface, but it’s only seen in like two levels in Episode 2, so use is only limited to getting to and from places. Then there’s the Lava Suit which is, if you played Doom, is just the radiation suit of this game. You can walk over hazardous materials like a certain goatee scientist.
Doom Eternal has something new to it, it gives you nothing that Doom 4 offered since everything you have here makes you think harder than gun go pew. Punching a zombie in Doom 4 allowed you to glory kill them. Punching a zombie in Doom Eternal is like trying to mine granite with your bare hands. You will never kill them with a punch and I believe does no damage if you don’t have a Blood Punch. In Doom 4, you were flushed with ammo and could shoot willy-nilly without a single regret, while in Eternal you regret missing that SSG shot, you regret unloading thirty shots on a wall trying to get an imp. Ammo is precious and makes the game so much of a resource management sim, making you respect your ammo as much as the last shot, having you try and learn the weapons rather than passing it off like every other shooter that gives you spare ammo with every kill. Doom Eternal gives you everything you can to trying and evaluate the odds of what you can and cannot do. Death is only a learning curve as the game punishes you with a single misstep, stopping all momentum for panicking, punishing you for every missed shot. The game is unforgiving that beating it on Hard was a fucking feat. And that’s saying something for me since I beat every game on Hard and always feel either nothing or complete anger. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus made me regret buying it when it’s a decent game on easier difficulties, while Halo 3 made me feel kinda indifferent with the game on Legendary. The game gives you a proper challenge compared to most games nowadays and is a great breath of fresh air.
The weapons are fun as hell, which needs no introduction. Each is a piece in a chess game that allows you to advance in the game. Plasma gun destroys energy shields and decimates grunts like the Zombie Soldiers and Imps, rocket launchers stun Hellnights, and anything higher, the super shotgun is an impact weapon that can be used to fuck over heavier demons like the Pinky or the Mancubus. Chaingun and machine gun can be used to take out a variety of things: pelting bigger enemies with it, having them be slowed by continuous fire, or use the mods to distract or disarm demons. The BFG and the Unmakyr are crowd control weapons, you feel overwhelmed or cornered, use them and you have the space to breathe. Now with the BFG, I have a terrible case of Hold-On-To-It Syndrom where I either feel too cocky to use my trump cards or just feel no need to use it at any point in the game. I’d be having my ass handed to me in several occasions, but never felt the BFG was needed, always felt wrong. Like I was wasting resources and is heavily worrisome since the ammo for the BFG is really fucking scarce. I believe it’s just me in this problem, so I kinda feel like an idiot at times, but feel like the resource management aspect of the game has taught me too well.
All the classic power-ups are there: Rage, Quad-Damage, Speedboost, and the Mega Sphere. And they fucking add to this delicious gameplay, man. Just everything about it makes it ten times better. And is supported by the reflection of Doomguy’s face popping up just to get you hyped and get to killing as much demon ass as you can. It’s so fucking good! To those who don’t know: Rage is a power-up that puts you in big-dick mode, put away all your guns just so you can rip demon ass apart with your bare fucking hands! Blood will be spilt on these walls and floors as we celebrate the carnage we engulf ourselves in! Quad-Damage is kinda self-explanatory, your damage output is multiplied by 4 and your weaker guns can kill anything larger than a bus within seconds compared to before. Speedboost… Well… Do I need to say anything about that? Mega Sphere is nothing too special, but it’s something to look out for since it tops off your health and armor at 200. It’s a good lifesaver, but I suggest you save it when you really, REALLY need it.
I think the only thing that I’d say is bad about the gameplay is the fact it’s not too welcoming to newer players. It’s accessible to anyone who’s never played this game. I don’t know if this is entirely true, but I know my dad won’t be able to play the game without screaming at it or leaving it altogether. Anyone new to the genre won’t enjoy Doom Eternal as their first game. This isn’t really a bad thing about the game since I praise a challenge in a game, it’s just not accessible even in easier difficulties. I could be wrong since I know there is a certain VTuber that played the game like a fucking champ.
Story
Alright, everyone knows that retro FPS games have as much of a good story as a Star Wars Prequel, but I enjoy the story of Dusk, despite its cheesy shit. Dusk keeps its story a mystery while telling it, you know nothing about Dusk Dude than the fact he’s getting revenge for the death of his family. All you know that he’s on this awesome journey to kill the leader of this mysterious cult of mystic power and aetherial understanding. The pain can only be cured through the blood of the followers of this cult, and you are the tool for this painful hatred you carry. Kill all who stand in your way and tear through anything they throw at you. Go through hell and back, and be ready for a second trip. There isn’t much there than that!
Doom Eternal is… Longer… Doom 1, 2, 3, RPG 1 and 2, and Doom 64 are all cannon in the Doom universe. Which makes Wolfenstein and Commander Keen in the timeline making Keen himself related to BJ and Doomguy himself and that makes Flynn Taggart his true name, or is it the one in the comics? Or the other books? What about the books on Doom 3 confirming the name of the Doomguy in there? It’s a mess! The story is basically something along the lines of Doomguy trying to stop Hell’s reign on Earth, stopping the Hell Priests who are summoning the demons there in the first places and kill the leader of these Priests, the Khan Makyr. Carrying a visage of an angel, she brings nothing but evil to your realm, and yadda yadda yadda, rip and tear until it is done.
Atmosphere
Dusk is surprisingly full of horrific atmosphere that leave you on edge, making you forget those moments with each playthrough. The time you lose your flashlight in dark tunnels of meat and gore, hearing nothing but the machines sloshing the shredded meat around the rooms as you try to think of the reason why all these things are for and what this meat is. It’s not anything you can understand, and you definitely know it isn’t human. Dusk is a game that bleeds atmosphere in so many places that I fucking love. I put off on talking about the enemies since they help so much to the atmosphere. The Cowgirls which have a squeaking wheel sound as they moan almost sexually, feeling discomfort to their own alert sound. It’s so good and I hate how good it is. I hate hearing those damn Cowgirls, they make my skin crawl. And we can’t forget about the most important enemy in the game: the Wendigo! They’re invisible when they chase you and the only thing showing you their presence is the heavy, loud breathing they emit and the blood prints they leave behind, it’s magic on how they surprise me every time despite me beating this game 6 times over. We can’t forget the superb enemy placement, putting them behind crates and barrels just so you know what you’re dealing with, it all being pushed as you hear that loud breathing deep in your ear. Your only reaction is to shoot the moment this happens and it always gets me. Such a magical moment that I fucking love.
There are levels in the game that have this unnerving feeling to them that make you instantly forget this is an action FPS. There are two moments in the game that I really hated because of the sharp atmosphere this game has, and that’s the second and third time you break your flashlight. Both exploring the dark and meeting nothing along the way to a new flashlight. Nothing for two straight minutes that feels like hours. I have a fear of the dark and that got me on edge every time. I adore this game’s atmosphere so much and it shows that David Szymanski has made other horrific titles like Fingerbones or The Moon Silver. Seriously, Dave, you’re an awesome horror artist.
Doom Eternal is more cartoony in its approach of its demonic killing, which some may hear as a bad thing, but it adds to the character of the game. You have very colorful levels that’s an upgrade to Doom 4’s red color palette. It’s no longer a boring industrial feel, it’s a cartoony science-fiction that compliments the design in so many ways. The cities are probably my favorite since they have so much popping out of them while temples and demon constructions have a more limited color palette. I know I make it out that the game might seem very round in its design, but it still makes for awesome looking places, having the color palette for my favorite level, Cultist Base, being in a blue hue while most of the colors are white, grey and a bright blue. It feels so awesome, industrial but so mystical. It’s a bright feeling that makes me feel calm, despite the fact that soon the blood of demons will be splattered all over them. They even complement it with the design of the Zombies, having them being in a grey/white and blue outfit. And the more you go deeper in the base, the colors kinda dampen itself to a red and yellow color, having it feel like it’s becoming more corrupt the closer you get to the Priest. They even make it better with Zombies wearing a red suit rather than the standard grey and blue suit. I love it so much!
Another thing I love about the atmosphere is the fact that any screenshot of the levels can make for an awesome metal album cover. Just so fucking awesome, skulls that you’d see on an Iron Maiden album, metal structures that would fit so well in a Metalica album, just so much shit that a metalhead would orgasm to, man!
Music
Dusk’s music was handled by an awesome guy named Andrew Hulshults who made some of the best music in the fucking world. He’s worked on the music in Doom Eternal’s DLC, Ancient Gods, so he ain’t no small fry. He’s made some metal shit in Dusk as well as some of the most atmospheric tracks I’ve ever heard. He’s got me to feel disgusted and my skin to crawl while playing the parts where I was forced to walk my way through the dark to find another flashlight. His track “Ashes to Ashes, Dusk to Dusk” is so wonderful, you just wonder what the hell you’re in for as you wonder the map, hoping you won’t run into anything new. But continues to blow my mind with “Mind Control” with something that pumps you up in the battle, man! It’s honestly something that I’d see in something like Quake or Doom, which he made music for both. Check out Corrupted Keep if you want to feel like a Strafe Hopping legend. It’s so good and I wish there was a vinyl of this soundtrack wink wink and enjoy it how I love my music wink wink. Giving you some ideas, Oshry.
Doom Eternal had it’s music composed by the legendary Mick Gordon, which made the soundtrack for Doom 4. I love his work in Killer Instinct and his work in Doom 4, but his legacy is truly put into Doom Eternal. You can tell his heart and soul was put into the music, his blood and sweat put into the instruments he played to create the work in this awesome game. I mean, without it, I don’t think Doom would be as great. I remember playing the game recently with the music off and it felt weird without it. The feeling this music gives you, the hype you are given encourages you to only continue the carnage. I mean, Cultist Base is the best track second to Meathook and They Fear Only You, making for some awesome moments to pump you up in the action and continues to be in my jams playlist to this day to listen to at this moment of writing this, headbanging to the beat of this track only to get lost in it! God, I fucking love Mick Gordon and his awesome work.
I think the only that really feels wrong about this OST is the fact that Mick Gordon was shafted during the making of the retail release of the OST, meaning he kinda made nothing out of making this soundtrack. He left with a frown and it makes me kinda mad Bethesda shafted the man. He made an awesome soundtrack that I genuinely love, especially since he kinda poured his soul into it. He deserved better.
Multiplayer
Dusk’s Multiplayer is kinda different than how it is nowadays. Now you click a button and await a match to be found, which can take a while, but Dusk kinda does it old school. Back in the days before I was born, you had to find the right time to actually play the game online. Depending on where you were, it was different, and playing with a certain amount of people, sometimes ranging from 5 players in a 20 player serve to like queueing for a full server. Dusk operates like that and I kinda enjoy it. Makes me appreciate how it is now rather than hate new things because they scare me. Every Saturday is (or used to be, been a while since I played Dusk World) is Frag Day, servers would be full and awaiting anyone who wants to play the game. Occasionally, you’ll play with the Devs of the game or studio or just with complete randos loving how classic this game is.
Now that the basics are out of the way, the gameplay is pretty fucking fast paced compared to the singleplayer experience. You are swooping by as everyone hups around with shotguns and pistols trying to kill each other. I kinda reminded me of Titanfall 2 a little bit, how spastic the gameplay is and how the average encounter is usually around 3 to 4 seconds long. It’s a unique experience that I enjoy and hope is still alive. I miss these games so much.
Doom Eternal added this new mode after everyone complained about Doom 4’s multiplayer not being anything like the campaign. Which wasn’t all of it’s problems, but was one of the thoughts I had about it. So came Battle Mode, a new mode where two demon players go against one Slayer. It’s a two on one, a completely fair fight in my book and makes the gameplay feel so tight and tests your knowledge on the campaign’s gameplay. You have three lives and you need to win three rounds against the demons hellbent on killing your ass. The slayer is decked out with all of his weapons and upgrades, allowing for you have a completely fair fight with the demons. Now the demons have a few choices: Marauder, Revenant, Pain Elemental, Mancubus, and the Archvile. You choose your style of gameplay against the slayer, having each demon carry traits that can help you. There are combos for you to aid your partner like the Marauder and Revenant combo helps out a lot. You got a deadly close-ranged demon zoning you and a ranged demon making sure you don’t move too much. Mancubus and Pain Elemental is good as well, having a tank that can take the most hits with attacks that help put the Slayer in a good position for the Pain Elemental to keep his eyes on him. Archvile is ver versatile but I can never get used to him. His teleport never feels right too me and too easily telegraphed making it no longer and escape but rather a prolonged death.
My only problem with the multiplayer is probably the fact that this is it. There isn’t much to it than kill the Slayer. It’s good, but it can get old quick. And somehow people have turned a 180 and want the arena back in Doom just like how Doom 4 had it. It feels weird that people went back on their word, but I guess that’s normal on the internet. Can’t please anyone. Despite that, I still like and suggest it. It’s enjoyable and better with a friend. Trust me, cooperating with your pal is much better than hoping you’re on the same wave length.
Outro
I’d have to say both games are the best of their genre. Dusk was an amazing throwback, reinventing the wheel while creating a new subgenre in the process called Dusk-Like. It’s influential and will be the leading charge of many games by the same studio behind Dusk such as Ultrakill or Amid Evil.New Blood’s start to a golden age. I highly suggest this game due to its amazing gameplay, its horrific atmosphere, and direction to retro FPS I’ve never seen before. I know that the game is on the Switch and has an exclusive level that is basically Mario 64’s Peach’s Castle, but I don’t have a switch. I hear it’s good. So, play it if you haven’t already. Doom Eternal is a great game and is one of the most challenging experiences I’ve ever had in a game for a long while. It creates amazing gameplay tactics that challenge your use of everything and knowledge on the enemies. The music in both games is phenomenal and deserves the praise it gets. I adore the game so much and I hope more learn from it and Dusk. Just amazing games. Seriously, get Doom Eternal and Dusk if you haven’t already.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my double review on two of the greatest games of the year they came out and I hope I said something new on these games due to how late this review is to both games. I am sorry about that. I’ve been writing this review since my 20th birthday last year and Doom Eternal only made it harder when March rolled around. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and the wait was worth it, and…
Play More Games!
Faith: Chapter 3 Trailer
A retro horror game that is in the same vein as a DOS game. I don’t know how much to sell you on it, but the game is interesting. You play as a priest trying to exercise demons in inspiration of The Exorcist, curing families and children from an evil of the likes you’ve never seen before. Deadly apparitions and unholy creatures must be cleansed and you are the only to do so, or become Mortis.
Hubby Review – Nirvana: Bleach
I fucking love Nirvana, I listen to them all the time, I play guitar and Kurt Cobain is one of my biggest influences both as an artist and as a person, he was arguably the coolest frontman in rock since Jim Morrison. In Utero is one of my favorite albums of all time and they have a shit ton of songs that I adore and listen to constantly. I love Kurt’s ability to make punk music and yet make it extremely catchy and accessible, let’s just say there’s a reason they got so big. Yet, that wasn’t always the case, and that brings me to the subject of this review. Their first album Bleach, released in 1989 by Sub Pop Records. Bleach has always personally fascinated me because it’s a look at Nirvana before they blew up and changed rock music, it’s a look at Nirvana before “Smells Like Teen Spirit” came along and changed everything.
Hubby Review – The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
One day a long, long, long time ago, a young boy received a palm reading from his mother. His mother gave him 3 predictions, that he would marry a strawberry blonde woman, he would have 2 daughters after she died, and that his daughters would form a successful band. This little event would end up being the catalyst that would lead to one of the most infamous and notoriously shitty albums of all time. “Philosophy of the World” by the Shaggs.
The Shaggs were composed of three sisters, Dorothy Wiggin played lead guitar, sang, and wrote all of the songs on the album. Betty Wiggin played rhythm guitar and sang, and Helen Wiggin played drums. There is no bass on the record outside of the song “That Little Sports Car,” where it is played by their other sister, Rachel Wiggin. The main reason this album is so infamous is due to how fucking incompetent these 4 girls are at both playing their instruments and staying in tune with each other. Helen’s drumming wouldn’t be too bad on it’s own but she is rarely ever in sync with the other 2 members. Dorothy and Betty do an okay job at harmonizing but their actual singing is horrible and gives the album a very creepy vibe. On top of that, their guitar playing is ass, their guitars are always out of tune, and is just painful to the ear.
Lyrically, the album is extremely childish, normally, this would be a problem, however, in this album’s case, I kinda like it since it gives the album a bit of charm. I think it’s cool that there’s a band that isn’t trying to be deep or change the world with their lyrics even if the result includes shit like “It’s Halloween” with lovely lyrics like “The ghosts will spook, the spooks will scare, why, even Dracula will be there.” There’s one song on the album called “Who Are Parents?” which is about how parents are great and how children need to obey them, which is extremely ironic considering the band’s origins. The album also ends with a Christian song called “We Have a Savior,” where they sing about how we need to give our lives to God to stop all the evil in the world. The most well-known song on the album is “My Pal Foot Foot,” which is fitting because it does the best job of showing off every problem with the album, however, it is also the most interesting song on the album. All three sisters sound like they’re not even playing the same song and the vocals are creepy as fuck, it would not be out of place in a horror movie.
This album is objectively fucking shit, however, it is also one of the most fascinating and interesting albums I’ve ever listened to and I actually kinda enjoyed it, and I found it growing on me more and more over time. There’s a certain appeal to it despite how shitty it is. It’s really fun to listen to and I can see how some people would love this album. The people who love this album adore it, Frank Zappa loved it and called it one of his favorite albums, Kurt Cobain put it at number 5 on his list of his 50 favorite albums. I can see why even though the album can be a little hard to listen to at times. The Shaggs would later go on to reform after they developed a cult following, and they have performed songs from this album, and they performed them exactly how they’re played on the album. I fucking love the idea that they had to convert the songs on this album to sheet music. I would consider this album an essential listen for anyone, just to see what not to do when forming a band, or to see just how interesting this piece of work really is. I’ve never heard an album that was this interestingly bad and I think that has to be worth something.
The COMPLETE Lindsey Sterling!!!!!
So. Zetta. Slow.
The game came out in 2009. It is one of the most iconic and cult classic games of the DS era. One that we believed there would be a sequel to by 2012-2013. It never came.
But we get this. I’m psyched!! I loved that world -and the concept. reading the minds of others was also cool! I need my Shiki fix!!
So @matastig Since Singularity , also one the best cult classic’s of all time –and on the PS3 , came out the SAME year wonder if we will see that as an anime as well.??
No-no iNFamous. That was NOT a cult classic and besides that had comic books.
Now Folklore–2008(?) WAS a cult classic and that would be cool as hell to see ina an anime!
Mortal Kombat’s Friendship
Mortal Kombat brings back Friendships the franchise once again after a long time. Now if you have a kid in the room or an unexpected family member barges in with their kid in their hands, you no longer have make them endure the mental trauma of someone’s spine getting ripped out from their body and lodged into their throats and turned inside out with said spine. Now you can watch some fun, harmless and hilarious Friendships that don’t scar your children or any sensitive people around you.
Watch Robocop do some sick moves for their opponent, Katana and Maleena playing patty cake, Jax playing the sax, or Spawn reading an arousing love story about himself and his wife. It’s out now so if you want to check out some funny fatalities, go boot up your MK11 right now!
Daisy
“If you let the priest live, then I will return to you what the demons took from you so long ago”
I love my Dylans
A song that never gets old! i love the original and every interpretation and version of it out there, and this is definitely one of my favorites as well.
Original
Keep an open mind for this one ..
Since i was a little kid and Every time i hear those first chords i feel that cool gentle wind blows against my face on a hot summer’s day, even after all these years still feels Fresh. chilling as it is uplifting.
FUSE 
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