What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2024

The months are just flying by, aren't they? How's a person supposed to
get any gaming done with the days whipping by like this? Well, I got a
little bit of gaming done... but not as much as I'd like. How am I
ever going to work through the backlog at this rate?

Anyway, here's what I played:


The List You Need
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* Dead Space Remaster
* American Truck Simulator - Nebraska DLC
* Tomb Raider: Shadow of the Tomb Raider



The List You Deserve
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* Dead Space Remaster
Mathematically, I enjoyed 58% of the "Dead Space Remaster". That's
because I enjoyed the parts of the game that were "Dead Space" but I
was not so sanguine about the "Remaster" aspects.

Not that there's anything straight-out /terrible/ about the remaster.
I just don't think it really adds anything necessary to the original
game, and in some respects actually detracts from it. The best thing I
can say about this new version is that it is easier to run on modern
hardware; no need to fiddle with config files or compatibility
settings. The slightly improved controls and native wide-screen
support are nice too.

But I'm less enthralled by the visual and audio updates. There was a
certain chunkiness to the original's graphics that really enhanced the
down-and-dirty feel of being on a gore-splattered mining spaceship.
The new visuals are just too sharp, the lighting effects just too
glossy to maintain that atmosphere. There are more obvious changes too
(including an entirely new look for protagonist Isaac Clark; this
newest iteration looks particularly gormless, as opposed to his more
practical appearance in the original version). There are numerous
audio tweaks too; most aren't too noteworthy, but the extra-loud
clunking of Isaac's space-boots hitting the decks with each step was a
constant annoyance.

They were some minor gameplay tweaks too; again, very little of note
was changed, except for the addition of some 'zero-G' acrobatics which
had Isaac flying around the place like Iron Man. Yes, this was a
feature added to the franchise in later games, but it feels
particularly out of place in this first game, which was all about a
constant claustrophobia.

The remaster is also far less subtle with its revelations about the
nature of both the source of the monstrosities, and with the fate of
Isaac's girlfriend. I get it; by this point, Nicole's ultimate
disposition is probably as well-kept a secret as the Luke/Darth Vader
relationship, but there's no sense of mystery and revelation.

Still, the core gameplay and conceits remain strong; the remaster is
recognizably "Dead Space" and dismembering space-zombies is still as
much fun as ever. Neither newcomers to the franchise nor old hands
will actively dislike this version.

It's just that the original remains the superior experience.



* American Truck Simulator - Nebraska DLC
So. Nebraska. A state most famous for its corn. Yeah, we're doing
this. I did warn you all this was coming.

I realized what I was getting into early in my explorations. The Truck
Simulator games have these spots on the map called 'viewpoints' where
you have to take a screenshot of a specific location. These are
usually of famous - or at least notable - landmarks; the Golden Gate
Bridge in San Francisco, or Devil's Tower in Wyoming. The first one I
saw in Nebraska was highlighting a sport supply store sitting off a
highway. The others I found weren't much more interesting.

Yeah, it's that kind of state. The sort of place where a path that
people used to /leave/ for better places (the Oregon Trail) is one of
the state's premier historical attractions.

I can imagine there was a sort of desperation amongst the developers
of this expansion, trying to find something - anything! - interesting
to showcase (I wouldn't be surprised if the residents of the state
felt a similar anxiety). I got that impression from the fiddly roads,
the overly detailed storefronts, the excessive detail and hidden paths
that curved around the few geographical features worth looking at.
There's almost nothing to see in the state, but the developers did
everything they could to milk what few sights there were.

This isn't a problem unique to Nebraska; previous map expansions
suffered from similar limitations. But even if those other states
weren't topographically interesting, at least they were fun to drive
through. Not so Nebraska; its roads were too often narrow, twisty, and
slow. The Truck Simulator games are best when you've long highways to
drive down; when you can almost zone out and become one with the
traffic. Nebraska demanded too much attention to the road... and
offered too little reward for that effort. But like the old joke goes,
while the driving is terrible, there's very little of it too. Despite
being a fairly large state, the Nebraska expansion feels very light in
actual content, namely: roads and destinations. I make it a point to
traverse (or at least try to traverse) every bit of road in the game
with each expansion, and usually it takes a week or two for me to
complete this challenge. With "Nebraska", I finished it off in four
days.

So, yeah. I'm not really a fan of this expansion. I can't say to skip
it -after all, it's the American Truck Simulator, and you can't have
America without all its states- but Nebraska isn't one I care to visit
often. Not even to drive through. Sure it's got its corn. But it
doesn't have much else.



* Tomb Raider: Shadow of the Tomb Raider
I'm not sure I should even include this game on the list, I played so
little of it. But I just couldn't make myself want to stick with the
game very long.

Not that, mechanically, it's a bad game. I mean, no, it's not really
wowing me with its game-play, but it's competent enough. It's lack of
an interesting storyline (or characters) didn't help either. Lara
Croft and her constant daddy-issues are a well long since drained dry,
but the developers keep going back to that same uninteresting subplot
(the massive evil conspiracy that's the game's main antagonist isn't
much better either).

But, really, it was the open-world that kept me from playing. That,
and the constant crafting. I didn't want to have to engage with any of
that nonsense. I miss the days of solid games with well-made,
well-paced maps. Levels with a definite start and finish, and a clear
direction from the one to the other. Wandering around giant maps
clearing out dozens of subquests and finding useless gimcracks placed
there just to fill out the game don't excite me. I've better uses for
my time. It's not fun; it's grind.

So I played relatively little of the game. In terms of polish and
mechanics, it's probably the best of the rebooted series, but that
open world? No thank you. I've no desire to work my way through all
that nonsense.




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Well, that's my short list for my month. Did you do any better? Let's
find out.

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2024?