This is one of the audio books that I listened to during my time driving to and from the job a city over. There is no real timeline other than I listened to these between September 2020 and February 2021. I was on a kick of motivation and productivity being at the new job.
I remember this book being short but sweet. This won’t be a very long review I remember laughing because the guy sounds pretty smug in the recording I listened to and I believe it was the author that read it. He sounded like he just made a bunch of money for writing a cheesy book about being productive, time management, and setting goals. To me this books was fairly basic in terms of revolutionary ideas. The past couple books I listened to were much better overall and contained more relevant information.
I liked the easy read or listen. It was pretty basic in terms of lasting importance. It focuses on prioritizing the biggest most important or otherwise lucrative tasks and goals. It has some solid information and ideas for anyone who struggles with a mountain of things to do or tasks to finish. It was definitely a useful read and I got something out of it for sure. I carried everything that I read and did forward from that time working out of town. I learned a lot and was able to listen to some good material for self growth. It was a good life experience and this little books was a worthy read. Not much I didn’t like about the book. It was short and not complicated. The phrase “eat that frog” gets said a lot but the book describes what it means in better detail.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for help with productivity and accountability as this book provides some good common sense advice and tactics. You could probably finish it in a couple reading sessions but you never know the information could help you manage yourself and your time better.
Overall this is a good little book. Nothing wrong with it even if I didn’t get much out of it. Check it out if longer more in depth books aren’t your thing. It’s easy and thoughtful. A little something for everyone contained within. Hope this review was helpful or informative. As always thank you for reading and feel free to comment or engage.
This was another of the books I listened to while driving to and from work in another city. This was the more modern answer to “The Intelligent Investor”. In this book the author Erin Lowry gives no nonsesne and practical information on budgeting, saving, and a brief explanation of investing. The demographic of this book and her story is aimed at the average millennial. I am a millennial which is described as people born between the years of 1981 – 1996.
I remember the book was good and she more or less told a story of her upbringing and what inspired her and necessitated her need to learn budgeting and financial stability. The story involves teaching and wisdom from her father but ultimately the knowledge and advice contained within is fairly common sense and practical. To me it was nothign really revolutionary but solid information for sure.
Over the past couple years I have been more and more into personal finance. At the time of listening to this story I was making more money at a normal job than I ever had before. I was interested in preserving my money and learning how to maximize my paychecks. This book taught me a lot and I applied the knowledge practically. I no longer work at that job, but I carried all of the habits forward for the most part. I also still have all of my investments and never sold anything.
I think personal investment and finance is important for anyone to learn and for some reason they don’t teach us enough in the course of our normal schooling. I always wondered about that myself. I figured they didn’t want the average man to be learning about high finance and the way those weird systems work. As we’ve seen in the past couple years what happens when the average person has access to the finacial world, modern apps and online brokerages make available what used to be reserved for financiers, investors, and bankers. The past couple years has shown that retail investment can turn whole markets. For mbetter or worse.
I liked that the book was easy to listen to and was aimed at my own demographic. After listening to “The Intelligent Investor” I needed a book that has a bit more modern examples and practices and this book was a perfect answer for that. I enjoyed the easy and relatable nature of the book. There wasn’t much I didn’t like about it. As mentioned it was a no nonsense book of ideas and experiences. If anything the information was rather common sense but it wasn’t bad at all.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in personal finance or who is, like me, a broke millennial trying to make and save money in this backward ass, late stage, capitalist world. It’s an easy read or listen and worth the time really. Anyone can benefit from the basic information and ideas on how to build better habits for your financial success.
Overall thoughts, definitely check it out. Not much more to say about this one. Hoped you enjoyed the review and it was informative. Feel free to comment or share if you dig the material. Till next time.
This was one of my audio book experiences while I was working at the medical dispensary in the city about an hour away form my house. I guess you could say I was going through a transformational period myself. The overall impact of the COVID pandemic plus the isolation of being on the road for 2 hours a day was tough for me. Factor in a schedule that didn’t allow much free time and I was feeling the burn of solitude and isolation. I was motivated to try and promised a lot that ended up not panning out. This book was a symbol of me trying to cope with the isolation of a work grind with over 2+ hours of driving daily. This is all to add some context of why I chose these self help, motivational, and personal productivity type books.
The book wasn’t bad at all. In fact it was really good but I do remember the readers voice being very monotone and not very exciting to listen to. The book is basically the tellings of a famous guru type Buddhist Teacher philosopher named Stephen Batchelor. Stephen basically quit his teaching and took on a journey that sought clarification into his own mortality and isolation, as well as, a deep dive into his thoughts on lonliness and solitude. I thought this relevant to all that was happening in our personal and social lives during the onset of the COVID pandemic during the late summer and fall of 2020.
The book was fairly short and nothing really stuck as being super enlightening and impactful to me at least. It was a long time ago that I finished listening to this book, but it was less teachings and advice and more of his experiences during this period in his life. Some of the more entertaining parts had the author describe attending various psychedelic rituals involving Peyote and Ayahuaska. I have experienced these substances and can more or less relate to someone who has never tried them and is experiencing them for the first time.
I liked the even tone of the book. There was more substance aside from his personal experiences. The author would add his own statements and ideas that relate to all the great thinkers in our history. I appreciated that he did a deep dive into what solitude means to himself, although, I didn’t quite connect to some of the concepts. In some of the experiences he was not alone and he was not in solitude but in a group setting. To me solitude is .. solitude. Like being up, tripping face, doing art or music at 3:45am when the rest of the world sleeps and nobody will disturb you.. solitude.
Not to get all philosophical with it, (pun intended) I think for an upper class academic who most likely has never really dove into the world of intense psychedelics, his accounts are all the more valid because he went to the deepest end of the rabbit hole doing ritualistic doses and purges of Peyote and Ayahuaska. Holy shit.. I bet he felt alone on the steps of death at points… I can honestly say I’ve experienced similar feelings on massive head-fulls.. but never in a ritualistic setting with all the spiritual mumbo jumbo attached to it.
I would recommend this book for anyone who is into philosophy, or has a desire to seek answers within themselves. This book has way more positive content than I can factually remember and it contains tons of solid quotes and ideologies by a professional thinker.
My overall thoughts are that this book would probably have meant more to me if i had listened to it in a non work or non driving setting. The audio books have to keep my attention and I feel like my mind probably wandered a bit during this book. As always I hope this was helpful or informative. Please let me know in comments if you ever want to discuss or talk about any book or subject.
I listened to this book on audio book, as I was driving to and from a job a city over. The expeience was good and the reader was clear and had character.
This book is a re telling of a famous book called “Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance” written by Rober Pirsig, of his own accounts of a cross country motorcycle journey with his son. I have not read the original book which was published in 1968. The author of this book I read is named Mark Richardson and he basically followed the famous path of Pirsig and wrote it his own accounts and philosophies as a docu/memoir. If i remember correctly he was in touch with some members of Robert Pirsigs family or friends. Mark Richardson studied and took great interest in the story, man, and philosophy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, to the degree where he literally followed in the late authors footsteps and retraced his epic journey for himself, only solo and with no passenger.
In this story, the author describes his situation and need to escape and all that encompasses the desire to ride solo across the country on an old motorcycle. Throughout the book he relates philosophies of the original “Zen and the art” book as he sees them in relevance to his own life and relationships with his family and others. Mark goes on a journey two thirds of the way across the country as a quest to himself for his birthday and more or less to ponder who he is. Maybe like a midlife crisis thing or maybe to satisfy that itch that only a writer/journalist would know. The overall story is entertaining and not as much actual motorcycle maintenance as I thought it would be.
I liked the relation to Zen and motorcycles. A friend of mine recommended the original “Zen and the art” and when I needed something to listen to on my long solo drives I found this “Zen and Now” book by Mark Richardson. I believe the author even Read the book for the audio book I listened to. I found the story satisfying and entertaining. The philosophy is mild but relatable and the motorcycle jargon was a nice fit for my attention while driving. I didn’t find my self bored and I could pay attention easily.
I found this story particularly relevant for two reasons. 1) I own a motorcycle and have ridden myself for years so I understand the terminology and the feelings of combined freedom and isolation, confidence and caution. Thoughts and feelings that only comes with being on the road by yourself, on only two wheels. 2) At the time I was driving a full hour to and from work by myself with just my thoughts if not for the Audio book playing.
I think I found a deeper connection with the book itself because of the long hours spent driving. I could relate to the stress of weather and maintenance and traffic issues. Before I had ever heard of the book or it’s title, when people ask me about riding motorcycles, I would automatically tell them it has very zen like qualities to it.. So I learned I was far from the only individual who had ever made that connection.
I would recommend to anyone who is interested in motorcycles, true life adventure, or philosophy. The book isn’t heavy or in depth on any of these subjects but combines them into an entertaining and ultimately satisfying experience.
Overall, thinking back, to when I was working in a different city, I listened to a boatload of music and a handful of audio books and this one is the one that resonated with me the most and has also stuck with me the most. I definitley recommend it all the way around as just a good piece of literature. One that explores the common mans desire for adventure and brushes on the the workings of relationships and how they relate to stress and passage of time.
Good read
Thanks for reading the review! Stay tuned for more.
As a long time fan there isn’t much to be said that hasn’t been already. The game has had a piss poor launch and long time fans of the series are rightfully ticked off. The game feels bare bones and ultimately not complete. There are dozens of things missing for me that kind of ruin the core Battlefield experience, and should be a no brained. Battlefield 2042 feels like it went backward in it’s progression. That being said, I do have fun with the game somtimes and it really shines when you play with friends, yet even that aspect has a weird design flaw because there is no way to communicate within the game?!? Overall I have a hard time recommending this game in it’s current state. Even though Battlefield is one of my favorite shooter games for the past decade or more.
The game is trying to be something that it is not. It’s leaning heavy into the hero shooter mechanics of special abilities and goofy “specialist” characters, instead of the nameless soldier classes that encouraged teamwork and a rock-paper-scissors style of strategy. In Battlefield 2042 It’s just a mess of the exact same model of characters, all of which can revive and also carry a rocket launcher, with a light machine gun that lacks recoil, or a sniper rifle. The game just feels very “meta”ish. Now everyone runs around with the most effective gear and that’s about what you see. The action is so spread out it often just feels like chaos with no sense of holding points or strategized movement and flanking.
The game plays decently on the Playstation5 console and luckily I haven’t experienced the game breaking bugs that a lot of people complain about. The game runs fairly smoothly for me. Only occasionally will it freeze or not load me into a match. The visuals are OK but nothing dazzling and atmospheric like the past two entries. This game just has a generic samey feel that I can’t quite put my finger on. I joke and call the game Battle of Apex Duty Field: present day fight game. The gun play is good and tight for me and the sound is decent but it all lacks some of the chunk and boom and umph of the past titles.
I like the setting and the time period, but like so many others I was hoping more for an updated BF4 style and feel. I really like calling in vehicles and equipment even if they Ranger drone is kinda worthless I can imagine the future with all kinds of other equipment that you can call in. Playing with friends is definitely the highlight for me. Unfortunately for a team focused game, it completely lacks any formal communication system within the game. This had me scratching my head as it renders one of the featured game modes pretty much unplayable. The maps are good in my opinion but I will be honest, compared to the past 2 titles the maps in this game feel very sterile and empty, even soul less. There is no gun emplacements, or blown up wreckage, there is no trash in the big cities except for a plastic bag blowing around every now and then.. For such massive and gorgeous maps they lack any atmosphere whatsoever.
Of course by now you can tell that there are plenty of things that I am not happy with. I don’t like the fact that there is no in game voice chat. This ruins any sense of team play and coordination. Aside from there being no way to communicate outside of discord, the game doesn’t reward the player for doing team related stuff. There are no bonuses for following the leaders orders, there are no real assist bonuses for spotting and killing enemies or sticking with your squad. There are no squad bonuses at all except for small ones for spawning on squad mates and marking enemies. This is a drag as it just promotes a solo playstyle where everyone just kinda plays for themselves. Medics don’t revive, Everyone can be carry a Sniper rifle AND have rocket launchers, and now characters can literally squirrel suit and zip their way to you with spring grappling hooks.. One of my biggest gripes is that there is no scoreboard or out of match stats. One of the things I geeked out on as a long time player was seeing how many kills I got with each piece of equipment or in total over the countless hours i would spend with the game. There is none of that lasting appeal in this game. I don’t care about dorky skins and stupid cosmetics. I just want a Battlefield game that feels finished. The game needs balancing as well yada yada yada, I could literally write a full post on what I think could be balanced for a better experience, alas I am no developer or game designer..
Honest recommendation as a long time fan. If you know what you are buying and think you will enjoy it, you probably will. If you are expecting too much or were hoping for an actual Battlefield game, I regret to say.. this isn’t it. Not yet.. This isn’t to say I don’t have hope. It took BF1 and BFV about a year to fully start fleshing out and being dialed in. I am confident that the game will get better as time passes.
The past couple Battlefield games have left a bad taste in my mouth because they took a bunch of my money at full price and then slashed the price of the game less than a couple months after release. That is shitty. I should have known better and waited honestly. I feel slightly cheated. But I think I finally learned my lesson because this wasn’t the only title I purchased in the past several years that were not worth the full price.
I wish I hadn’t have pre-ordered and waited for more content or for a discounted price. Because at this point the game is not worth the full price. I give the game a 2.5 out of 5 stars. I hope it will be more complete in 6 months to a year, but that is a sad statement considering Battlefield used to be one of my go to video games.
It was a while ago now, back in fall of 2020 that I listened to this book. I listened on audio book and it was a good experience. At the time I was commuting almost an hour a day to and from work and I had lots of down time driving on an easy highway. Audio books are perfect for driving on highway because you can throw it in cruise control and pay attention to the road, as much as you need to, but also pay attention to what you are hearing. I listened to a lot of audio books in my time at that job. I found that the person who is recorded reading the book makes a big difference. Some just simply read the book with no inflections or change in their voice. These were harder to get through and sometimes I wouldn’t be in the mood. Then some are performed with great tone and variance in their voice. That is the difference, some audio books are just read aloud and recorded and some are performed for the listener. These books are usually of the fantasy and fiction genres. Definitely worth listening too.
The author writes from the German perspective of world war 1, the “war to end all wars”. This books is a fiction but no doubt built from the tales of war and possible real life experiences of the author, Erich Maria Remarque. Erich is German and lived throughout WW1 and WW2. This book is a novelized account of a young soldier and his group of fellow soldiers over the course of several years of the war. Over 200 pages these young men become grizzled veterans. There are light accounts of camaraderie and brotherhood entrenched with accounts of the brutalities of war. There is no triumph in this story as we know through history how World War 1 ended. This story provides a rare glimpse into minds and perspective of a defeated nation.
The book is brief and detailed in it’s execution. The Author doesn’t really waste too much time world building or developing the characters, and this is deliberate. As mentioned previously this story is told from the perspective of the German army and so the story has an “inevitability” factor. You know what is coming but the Author manages to make you curious how these characters and their situation will end up. The characters are presented as young men or even boys. There are no hero characters, no antagonists or protagonists. The author drives home that these aren’t extraordinay men but just normal humans learning how to maintain and survive as they grow together through out the book. This makes the inevitable losses all that much more impactful. With the harsh details provided it’s easy to imagine how terribly this world event left so many people on both sides. Neither side thought they were bad, both sides thought they were in convicted in what they were doing, but couldn’t tell each other why.
I liked the quick pace and details of the battles. There wasn’t too much gore or graphic details but there was definitely enough to really drive home the hell that those men had to endure. While war is not a positive subject, I do find it extremely fascinating. World conflicts in general. I liked this book because it’s not often you get a story that you know basically how it ends up, because it’s told from the “losing” side of history. Although make no mistake in those massive world conflicts back then nobody truly won..
There wasn’t anything I really didn’t like about the book. I could say I didn’t like the ending but that can carry so many things with it. You will have to read the story for yourself and I encourage you to do so. It is hard subject matter and it is supposed to make you feel something, which is why it is an all time classic that is recommended and honored today as great literature. In my opinion modern authors lack the language and overall tone of Authors of the past.
It’s to be noted and I’d like to talk about it. I don’t know why I am so fascinated with warfare and conflict? It’s not like a creepy obsession or anything I simply cannot fathom the sheer numbers that go into massive scale conflicts. Even the most current war in Iraq and the Middle East. I mean we waste soooooo much fucking money on the military every year. I can’t imagine what the full cost of the war was for 20 years. Like full cost including all the corrupt and illegal money. The old wars fascinate me because in my opinion all the rich and smart people of the world realized back then that whole countries can be built and ultimately controlled by a constant state of warfare or conflict. Also LOTS of money can be gained and extorted from the conflicts on both sides. I don’t know why I find it so fascinating and kinda terrifying. Those massive conflicts only happened a short time ago in the grand timeline of life, yet the current generations are just enough removed that they can’t realize how different our lives could have been if a couple of past events had turned out only a little bit differently.
Super interesting for sure. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in warfare or war stories of the classic wars. There is enough detail in the book to learn some facts but not a slog with a bunch of military terminology and descriptions of basic duties. Hope you found this review helpful and let me know if you read or listen to “All Quiet on the Western Front”.
Before I begin I am fully aware of the current situation with Ubisoft and how the company treats employees. I hate that the CEO and Executives of these companies treat their employees poorly. It’s sad that an industry I love so much is marred by such a terrible work culture. In short I buy Ubisoft titles because I genuinely enjoy the work that countless talented people create. I support the artists, writers, programmers, musicians, testers, actors, designers, engineers, etc that make these games come to life. I stand in solidarity and support of all of Ubisoft employees, I want them to be proud of their games and work. They should be.
Cover art
Just finished the game earlier today Nov. 6th. Very happy with the experience overall. I enjoy the chiseled gun play and entertaining characters of Far Cry games. The villains are some of the best in Gaming and media in general, Far Cry 6 featuring A-list actor Giancarlo Esposito, who famously played bad guy Gus Fring on the hit TV series Breaking Bad. He plays a very well written and perfectly acted Dictator. I had hoped him and the player had more verbal and physical interaction like in past Far Cry games, but every scene he is in has Gravity and cements why he is a Feared Dictator. Also notable is the beautiful world maps they create and let us subsequently destroy. I especially enjoyed the music in this game, set in Cuba. The Island scenery is lush and beautiful with active day night cycles and weather effects and lots of different local wildlife
I spent about 60 hours on the Main story and doing other side activities. I’m close to a Platinum trophy on PS5 and will probably go ahead and get it. Only a few super grindy requirements to get the Platinum, otherwise most of them can be gained simply by being thorough and playing the game normally. For for strenuous “collect all of …” trophies I will use YouTube sometimes, no shame. I just don’t have time in my life to search every little location on a map and so I miss some of the more random collectibles on my own.
The pacing of the game isn’t bad there are some parts that kinda drag. The mission structure is tried and true and sometimes a bit repetitive. I like mixing up my weapons and I alternate between stealthy and Rambo play styles to mix it up a bit in combat. In Far Cry games you can pretty much be way overpowered very quickly in the story. It’s up to the player to use the different mechanics and weapons to keep things fresh. It feels great clearing out a whole enemy base without alerting a single guard, however, If you go in with a silenced pistol every time and don’t spice up the action things will get stale quick. Use the companions, and gadgets, and sometimes let the guard hit that Alarm to call in reinforcements. The game is an absolute playground of destruction!
The progression system is kinda flat in my honest opinion. The game starts you off with a full tool box and kinda lets you create your own action. You can equip silencers and armor piercing ammo almost from the very start of the game in your first couple upgrades. And you can customize and fully kit out every single weapon except for special named weapons which come with predetermined perks and buffs. Once you get the (very basic) stealth mechanics you are pretty much A one man super Army. The stealth is satisfying and super useful to get through areas easily but sometimes there is more fun to be had in going in guns blazing. The star of Far Cry games (other than the characters and world) is the guns and gun play. FC6 doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. The guns look and feel amazing. They sound good and feel powerful when fully upgraded.
Player stats and perks and special abilities are gained by switching to different types of armor. There are 5 kinds in a “set” each set of armor together helps with a certain defense or skill set. For instance, The hazmat set helps against poison and gives you boosts against poisoned enemies. The “Fuego” armor set gives you defense and buffs against/with fire and explosions. Parkour Armor set helps you move around faster and quieter, etc, etc. There are a ton of different sets and you can mix and match the 5 different pieces of gear; head, torso, hands, legs, and shoes for basically customizing a play style or load out type. My one gripe is that you have to open the menu every time you want to switch gear or guns or any other equipment. Some sort of quick swap, at least for armor and worn gear, would have been super nice and require less time in the menus.
One of the newer features of combat is this multi-function backpack Called a “Supremo”. It can do things like shoot missiles, create EMP blasts to disable machinery, or other cool abilities. This back pack is how you equip “Gadgets” such as grenades, health kits, and C4. Each one can be customized for a different load out and you can switch between them on the fly during combat. I will admit I underused this ability in battle mainly because I was having fun and forgot about it. Honestly the powers are nothing super amazing. They are fun to use but not a game changer usually. Just another tool in your arsenal that helps you destroy or take down enemies.
The graphics are top tier, and on the ps5 the game ran perfectly and I had no issues with freezes or other major glitches. Occasional in game glitches but they are just kinda funny and not terribly inconvenient. The game ran smoothly for me over the course of 60+ hours. The enemy AI is decent when you are engaged, but pretty basic if you are playing stealth. It’s not the hardest game and is fairly liberal with health and player durability.
Gorgeous scenery and world.
Overall I highly recommend Far Cry 6 if you like shooter games in general. This is a top notch shooter! Great open world, entertaining characters and a Good story. Nothing revolutionary (pun intended) but a solid video game worth a play through, and not to miss if you already enjoy the Far Cry formula of games. As always, thank you for reading and I hope this was informative without spoiling anything.
By far one of my favorite games of 2020 for sure and winner of several “best of” awards throughout the gaming industry. The style and authentic feeling story was a joy to behold and the tight sword play stay entertaining throughout. The story follows Jin Sakai through what amounts to a classic tale of revenge and family drama. It is an open world master piece that is made by a lesser known studio called Sucker Punch. What they did with the subject material and the visual aesthetic is simply brilliant.
Long story short, I devoured this game. I have always connected deeply with the ancient far east culture. I took a traditional form of martial arts as a kid and I got a lot out of it. I have taken the teachings of my karate training and fascination with the Japanese culture with me throughout my life. Not that this has any to do with the game but I connected deeply with the feel and vision of the game. This game let me live out my fantasies of being a samurai warrior. I don’t know why this time and setting is usually skipped in modern gaming unless it’s strategy games or the Dynasty Warriors series. There was Tenchu Stealth Assassins back in the day.. and Bushido Blade.. we’re talking old school PlayStation 1 here. like 1995. There may be some other great samurai subject games out there but those are some of the ones that come to mind and they aren’t even necessarily “Samurai” games like Ghost of Tsushima stake out to be. This game is literally a Japanese Samurai / Samurai movie simulator.
The main character is Jin Sakai. He is an honorable samurai from a noble clan who is forced to do less than honorable things to keep his homeland and his people safe. The games art style is where it really shines. This game is absolutely beautiful and it really shines in the aesthetic department. Sucker Punch used super rich contrast and color pallets so all of the scenes look like they could be a painting or out of a graphics demo. I am playing on the OG PS4 which at this point is like a 7 year old system but i was surprised how the massive world and depth of colors played well together. The game ran smoothly and loading screens were fairly short from what you would expect from a game of this sheer size.
Everything about the game was superbly Samurai. While I don’t know how historically accurate or true some of the conflict is, I did enjoy the various romps through the world and the side characters you meet tell interesting mini stories within the main narrative. I spent easily over a hundred hours in the game and I completed pretty much everything I am fairly close to a Platinum trophy.
The game has some repetitive elements toward the end stretch. If you are seeking trophies or achievements you will be doing the same things over and over. Luckily this game is absolutely beautiful so going to random locations and the far ends of the map are fairly entertaining in their own right. This is pretty standard in many large and long open world type games. There is always the first part where you feel overwhelmed and then you get side tracked from the main story and over level yourself then once you are bored of all of that you are like, “oh yeah there is still a whole main story arch to finish” That’s more or less what happened with me and this game. Some of the larger games of recent memory (coughs AC Odyssey coughs) have definitely dragged on. Like they could have been 20 less hours and still been phenomenal games.
Ghost of Tsushima drags a little bit for sure but it’s not as bad as some of the other games out there. It’s definitely worth seeing to it’s conclusion though. there are some memorable parts at least for me there were.
Once you beat the game, sucker punch released a free update that let’s you team up with other human players and fight gauntlets of demons. The art style is a bit different and the expansion kinda delves into the myths and demons of Japanese culture. At least it seemed like it to me. The art definitely looked darker. I haven’t played the expansion except for a couple of matches but I plan to once I get back into the game to get that Platinum trophy.
Overall this game is excellent and worthy of your money and time if yo like the open world style of game. It doesn’t do anything super new in terms of innovation on the formula but what they do with the world and the colors and the stories is absolutely superb. Not to mention a full multiplayer mode added on after the fact, Ghost of Tsushima is a no brainer and a must play if you enjoy anything Samurai or ancient Japan.
The newest entry in the classic Doom franchise. The god father of the first person shooter.
To be put simply, the game is about one thing, slaughtering demons. But This newest game takes the art of slaying demons and elevates it to an art form. A ballet of death, It is fast and brutal. The graphics are sharp and clean and every stage has a very different aesthetic so nothing really looks the same from level to level. There is no reload buttons or aiming down the sights. This game encourages and even rewards aggression. If you try to hide or take pot shots at enemies you will get over run by charging monsters.
I fondly remember playing Doom 2 on original PlayStation and Doom 64 on the N64. These were the more classic doom format with the pixelated demons and 2D sprites. Those games were dark, and filled with puzzles that tasked the player with finding colored keys and using switches and platforms to get through the levels. That basic structure is still here but This new game is much more detailed and has more modern movement options like a quick dodge and jumping. The basic mechanics of just laying on the trigger are still present and battles usually don’t stop till everything in the room has been defeated. Some enemies pop up through out the level but certain areas are literal death zones where enemies just spawn till you wipe them all out. The games music ramps up with heavy metal guitars and industrial drums gaining intensity. Once this starts you will die quickly if you don’t keep moving.
The core loop of Doom: Eternal operates on a pattern of shooting enemies to kill them, using the chainsaw to make enemies spurt a shower of ammo, burning enemies to replenish armor, and performing “glory kills” which reward you with a bit of health. The frantic pace of the battles means alternating between these functions at your will, or in some type of pattern. Most enemies have weak points that you can exploit as well. This makes each battlle a literal puzzle of deciding which enemies to take out first and with what weaponry, whilst keeping track of your health and armor and ammo. You find pickups for all of the above but the best method for keeping stocked and staying alive is by using all of the various killing techniques at your disposal. All of this culminates into a delectable dance of death and mutilation. shooting, stomping, tearing, smashing, burning, slicing, and otherwise annihilating anything that moves other than yourself. The speed and grace with which Doomguy decapitates lesser demons fits his persona. He doesn’t take his time and it often times is just a show of brute strength. After you fell all of the enemies in an area you have a sense that everything was just trying to rip and claw it’s way to you and you moved through them like a hot knife through butter.
I liked the care that went into this new game, for it describes the setting and how thing got the way they were. You can find pages of lore that explain why demons attacked earth and they give a bit of backstory to the Doom guy and kinda personify him. It’s not the clearest plot line or narrative but definitely interesting to read and explore. The main character of Doom has always just been a marine in a green suit but this game gives the silent protagonist a bit of backstory. There are tons of easter-eggs from previous games and other action titles as well. There are lots of collectibles which include models of the enemies and music tracks from other popular games made by the developer, ID software. Any fan of action games or doom specifically will definitely catch them during a playthgouth.
Between slaying demons there are some light platforming puzzles and some hidden items that you actually have to explore to find. Nothing was super difficult to get through and kept the pace nicely. There were no parts of the game (other than one particular enemy) that really get you stuck. The auto map pretty much shows you everything you need to see as well as any secrets. you just have to uncover the paths to uncover them. I thought the puzzles were thoughtful and didn’t detract from the flow of the game. Also the game gives you a fast travel function at the end of any level so you can teleport around and collect stuff that you may have missed during a chaotic fight or difficult area. Definite re-playability .
There is a multiplayer online mode called “Battle mode” which pits human players against each other in a 2 v 1 style match up. one player takes the role of the Doomguy and the other two players assume the roles of Demons who can summon other lesser demons and must work together to defeat doomguy in an arena type setting. These matches are fast and chaotic. I haven’t quite gotten the gist of this mode yet, or I haven’t practiced enough to really tell if I’m doing well or not, or even helping my team mate if we are the demons. I’ve lost an equal number of rounds as I’ve won simply because one of the players probably didn’t know what was going on quite yet. Still fun regardless and I will be eager to play this mode more or see if it progresses at all. Either way the battle mode keeps the same feel and frantic pace as the campaign action. It’s a nice break from the single player level type campaign.
This game has a lot of satanic and demonic imagery. People who are sensitive to this stuff may not like the environments and enemies, or even subject matter. However Doom is an unflinching action game from beginning to end. I highly recommend it to anyone who fancies a trip to hell to slaughter the minions of evil. A great game to mash through during quarantine. A classic game design in a modern format. A definite must play if you consider yourself even a casual gamer or fan of first person shooters.
If you like tales of survival and stories about real life events and acts of heroism, then Unbroken is a book for you. The book is written about a man named Louis Zamperini who’s fighter plane was shot down over the south pacific during world war 2. The author Laura Hillenbrand actually got to spend time with the family of Louis Zamperini and the man himself I believe. This fact makes this story all the more impactful because most of the facts probably came from the Veterans mouth, or those close to him.
The book takes you quickly through the beginning of Zamperini’s life, through his basic childhood and adolescence, but the story actually begins once he is flying missions over the South Pacific Ocean during World War 2. This is very much a story of survival against insurmountable odds and about perseverance. I won’t give up any of the main story but not much goes well for Louis during those years as a captured POW. What I liked about the book.
The main character himself could be fictional but it makes the tale all the more exciting knowing he was an actual living person. I don’t know why I find that time period so fascinating. The World War 1 and 2 eras impress, and irk me at the same time. I have been fortunate enough to travel and tour some of the famous memorial sites throughout Europe and Japan both. The whole concept of a “World War” is a terrifying reality to our human culture. You can arguably say that those wars gave us the modern drive for industry and capitalism, and still to this day, play a big part in the world economy.
I enjoyed this book because it doesn’t stop once you start reading it. There aren’t really many slow parts so to speak. The book takes you on the full ark of his experiences during the war itself, and then continues on to detail the healing that takes place among the soldiers coming home from those conflicts. I can’t imagine having to go through some of the ordeals that him and his crew had to go through, or the sheer terror of being stranded on the open ocean. So many experiences happened to Louis Zamperini yet he stays sane and even grows from the experience. A true testament to the will of man and the unyielding drive that some can develop to stay alive.
I love stories like this but it may not be a good one for people who are sensitive to detailed depictions of torture and survival.
I enjoy anything to do with WW2 and that time frame. I believe everyone should know something about the era all of our grandfathers and grandmothers lived through.
Definitely read this book if you like tales of survival and details about lesser known facts about WW2. Unbroken is a thoroughly engrossing story of a man who wouldn’t give up. Some good lessons and humanity in these pages, I definitely recommend.
