Around The Web - Resurrecting Leisure Suit Larry

How do you resurrect a raunchy sex-comedy adventure game icon of the '80s and '90s for 2018? I had kept wondering that before finally getting a review copy of Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don't Dry.

A lot of the best dialog moments come from interacting with Lefty - the
long-time proprieter of Lefty's Bar, who's seen all the changes in the world
in the past 30 years.

The answer is, "very blandly."

Here's the thing: a Larry game set in 2018 should have been comedy gold. And with the right writing team willing to take some heat, I think it could have been. This is the Era of That's Not Funny, where men can be women if they feel like it, consent videos are a thing, and half of millennials think that just asking someone in the office out on a date is sexual harassment.

Or, to be fair, if the writers wanted to take this on from a left-wing, SJW angle, there's plenty of easy targets in incels, MGTOW, and pick-up artists to mock.

Unfortunately, what we got was a blandly competent adventure game with whatever bits of humor are unlikely to offend anyone. It still probably isn't enough to avoid some group or other getting offended.

Around The Web - We Were Scared Once

A little pre-Halloween fun over on Marooners' Rock. A bunch of us put together some little blurbs of the most scared a game has ever made us.

We were supposed to give our best scared face. I tried to think of the scariest possible thing for my picture. I guess that
"Clara driving" gives me more of a cringe than open-mouthed screaming.

There are a lot of games that have made me jump, from Doom, to Condemned, to System Shock 2. I've banged my head on a wall from reflexively dodging an incoming missile in Wing Commander 4. But nothing ever quite got into my head like playing F.E.A.R. in an empty office at 3am. That's my story, and my fellow writers have some similarly haunting experiences.

Around the Web - Ash of Gods: Redemption Review

Obviously the videos are still trickling out on YouTube at a one-per-week pace, but in reality, I have finally finished playing through Ash of Gods: Redemption. 

Two of the possible characters who can join your party.

 Truth be told, this review absolutely fell victim to the problem of me signing up for more work than I could handle over the summer. Trying to jam through multiple games, manage four days a week of kids in sports, train for a half marathon, and still work my normal job turned out to be a bit much. Lesson learned. I regret that some content got stuck in the process, as it makes me look like I'm a rank amateur, but there's nothing I can really do about that, save learn from my mistakes and not repeat them.

Around the Web 7/24 - WoW!!!

Over at Marooners' Rock, I've been doing a retrospective of sorts on my time playing World of Warcraft. Well, I've got the past and present ones done, the future, though, is going to require some further playing.

Azeroth Arrival - Part One - The Good Times 

Azeroth Arrival - Part Two - WoW at PAX East 2018

Oh, and did I mention I'm giving away a copy of Ash of Gods: Redemption?

Around the Web - Still Crushing The PAX East Content

Over at Marooners' Rock, we're still putting up a ton of awesome PAX East content. Here's a few of the cool things that you might have missed over the last couple of weeks:

Roarr! The Adventures of Rampage Rex Preview

Kaet Must Die Preview

State of Decay 2 Preview

Antigraviator Preview

Aimpad Interview - This is really a cool product interview!

Around the Web - More PAX Content and a Where the Water Tastes Like Wine Review

Happy First of May everyone! Spring seems to have finally decided to stay for a while in South Dakota, so it's time to hit a few more links of what the folks over at Marooners' Rock have been up to lately.

Around the Web - Marooners' Rock PAX Coverage So Far

All the fun stuff we've covered over on Marooners' Rock from PAX East, so far.

Projection: First Light
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
Ion Maiden
Yuppie Psycho
Double Kick Heroes

Around the Web - Castrol EDGE Titanium Gamer Interview

I got to see and do a lot of very cool things during PAX East this year. One of the major highlights was definitely getting to sit down and chat with Luke Woodham and Theo Thomas about their participation in the Castrol EDGE Titanium Gamer challenge.

Gamer vs. Driver

You can read the full article on Marooners' Rock. It's facinating what happened when a pro racing driver and a pro streamer/youtuber specializing in racing titles get tossed into a custom prepped V8 Mustang and given a course to drive.

Around the Web: Make Sail Preview

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
- Sea Fever (first verse) by John Masefield

 I remember memorizing this poem for my SP101 class more than two decades ago as a college freshman. I chose it because there wasn't anything in our poetry selection options about longing for the sky, but the mariners of old always seem to be the ancient forefathers of the modern aviators. So it fit.

Rarely do I come across a game that can convey the kind of longing and loneliness that sailing or flying both answers and creates, but Make Sail comes close. Now in Steam Early Access, it's well worth taking the time to check out.

Read the full preview on Marooners' Rock!

Around the Web: Closers Review

This was a fun one. Closers is a Korean MMO that has been localized by En Masse Entertainment (Tera), for North American Release. While the game has been out in Korea for a few years now, in only came out of Steam Early Access in the N.A. region in February.

Yuri says you should click the photo and read the review.

Most of my Coffee Is For Closers! series went into making this review. I don't think I'm anywhere near done playing this game, however.

Around the Web - Raid On Coasts Full Preview on Marooner's Rock

As promised last week with the video, I took some time to write up my full thoughts on Raid On Coasts.

I don't even know what's going on in this splash screen. It's like someone cut and pasted a bunch of elements from different scenes together. That's pretty much the quality you can expect with this game.

It’s not a bad concept. The somewhat balanced map harkens back to some of the classic ‘90s RTS games that experimented with balanced Capture The Flag style gameplay modes, something that Z and Z Steel Soldiers did particularly well. The artwork is surprisingly detailed and clean, with tanks and helicopters having some nice little movement animations. It’s the kind of concept which, with some map randomization and a decent enemy AI, could provide an entertaining set of bite-sized RTS gaming moments.