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Here's a Bunch Of Covers of E1M1
Posted by Billy
Posted on 21 September, 2016 at 08:18AM ↑ 1 ↓ 0
Here's a Bunch Of Covers of E1M1

Doom is one of the most iconic games ever made, the forerunner of all FPS. Equally iconic, is its soundtrack. A mix of thrash metal and suspenseful tones, the soundtrack really set the mood for the game. Probably the most iconic of those songs (we're all three levels of iconic now), the song to the very first level: E1M1. Standing for Episode 1 Map 1, this was every Doom player's first taste of the action. The track itself is actually called "At Doom's Gate", which is a fitting name since the first level is really the entryway into the game. (The first level of Doom 2 is called Entryway, as it turns out). The song itself is very evocative of the map it represents; it's a very quick and action packed song. Keys and environmental tricks like lifts (barring secrets) aren't introduced until the second level. For E1M1 it's just run 'n' shoot. To celebrate this track, we've compiled a list of covers of this song, everything from comedy, to intriguing, to full on headbanging enjoyment. Catch 'em after the break.

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Metroid Fusion
Posted by Lazlo Falconi
Posted on 6 September, 2016 at 9:21PM ↑ 2 ↓ 0
Metroid Fusion

Originally Metroid IV, now Metroid 8(ish), Metroid Fusion marked a dramatic change in the style of Metroid games. Prior to this, the Metroid series had been pretty minimalistic, with just a spattering of story to tell you why Samus was exploring this alien world. During gameplay, the only narrative was the one you supplied yourself. Metroid Fusion brought in ideas like other characters, a railroad plot, and, most obviously, changed the look of Samus. This game also released side-by-side with Metroid Prime, and had the ability to connect through the GameCube-GBA link cable.

 

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Doom Open Beta Review
Posted by Billy
Posted on 16 April, 2016 at 4:10PM ↑ 1 ↓ 0
Doom Open Beta Review

So if you don't know, id Software is running an open beta for the new Doom (confusing, yes it's just called "Doom"). Doom is going to come out on May 13th, so it’s about a month away. I spent some time with the open beta, and I have to say it’s looking promising. Just like Wolfenstein: The New Order, Doom is looking to be a good mix of old and new styles of shooters. However, the open beta is multiplayer only, and is pretty light on content so it’s too early to say for sure. While there are certainly things I love about this open beta, there are also things I don’t quite like about it.

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Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Posted by Billy
Posted on 21 February, 2016 at 08:58AM ↑ 1 ↓ 0
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Last week I briefly discussed how I used to love to explore in Super Mario 64. Well, some games are built around this idea of exploration. This has become quite a ubiquitous thing in gaming these days, what with all the "open world sandbox" games that come out. However, in a much simpler (and more memory-limited) time, we had the so-called "Metroidvania" genre. My most recent trek in this genre came by way of Metroid Prime 2, which incidentally would be a terrible game to be introduced to the genre through. Not because it's a bad metroidvania game or anything but more on that later. I have played Metroid Prime, the first one, but since I played this one much more recently I feel it'd be a better review if I talk about the second game instead.

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Wolfenstein: The New Order
Posted by Billy
Posted on 3 August, 2015 at 4:56PM ↑ 1 ↓ 0
Wolfenstein: The New Order

Everyone who knows me knows I like my first person shooters old-school. Newer shooters are fine and dandy, but they lack flair. Old-school shooters have interesting weapons that can shoot everything from bullets to lightning. There's interesting weapons to use, and usually interesting enemies to use those weapons on. Newer shooters have... assault rifles that you use to shoot brown people. Okay okay, that's a generalization. But that's certainly what it feels like, especially when you're used to a game like Quake, which features the aforementioned lightning gun, and has an enemy that shoots grenades and has a chainsaw. I must not be the only one who thinks so, since classic FPS style games have seen a resurgence lately, what with the reboots of Rise of the Triad and Shadow Warrior. However, classic FPS' didn't do everything right, certainly not, so perhaps a combination of new and old shooters would be a good idea. To that end, we have Wolfenstein: The New Order.

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Newton's Laws in Video Games
Posted by Billy
Posted on 13 June, 2015 at 9:44PM ↑ 2 ↓ 0
Newton's Laws in Video Games

As computer hardware technology has gotten faster and more advanced, so too has the entertainment software running on it. I am speaking of course, of video games. Increasingly important in today’s video games is the use of physics. In order to become immersed in a video game, players often expect the game world to react in a realistic way, which means physics calculations. In real life, we explain how objects move and interact using Sir Isaac Newton’s three laws of motion. In video games, we also apply these same laws, but in a video game context. Indeed, the process of applying Newton’s laws in a video games is often called a “simulation”, often through the use of a special sub-system called a “physics engine”.

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Fistful Of Frowns
Posted by Metal_Kitty666
Posted on 2 October, 2014 at 5:51PM ↑ 1 ↓ 0
Metal Gear Solid
Posted by Billy
Posted on 11 August, 2014 at 10:18PM ↑ 1 ↓ 0
Metal Gear Solid

I know you've read the title already, and I know you (if you're a gamer at all) already have a flurry of thoughts rushing into your head about Metal Gear Solid. There have been many installments of the Metal Gear franchise since 1998's Metal Gear Solid. I want you to try to forget all that. Forget all the lore the sequels have brought into the series. Forget the remake on the Nintendo Gamecube. Forget about the upcoming MGSV. Heck, maybe even forget about the original Metal Gear MSX games (we sure didn't know about them here in America in 1998). Let's start fresh again, and take a look at a PlayStation classic.

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Doom 64
Posted by Billy
Posted on 3 May, 2014 at 3:30PM ↑ 1 ↓ 0
Doom 64

I absolutely love the Doom games, it's a close contender for my favorite game series. I love to get more Doom whenever I can, and thanks to all the mods and addons constantly being created that's never a problem. The guys at id Software felt the same way, they wanted more Doom even as they were making it. This is why they were very open to the modding community, and very open to licensing their engine to other companies. Midway handled the console ports of Doom to the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn. However, when it came to the Nintendo 64 they decided to not just port the game and go with something more original. Originally titled Absolution, they went with the much less cool name of Doom 64.

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Play Wolfenstein 3D with WASD + mouse
Posted by Billy
Posted on 11 April, 2014 at 5:18PM ↑ 2 ↓ 0
Play Wolfenstein 3D with WASD + mouse

Update August 2016: The download link was broken, so that's been fixed. I have also added instructions down below.

One of the things that always irked me about Wolfenstein 3D is that its control scheme is a little too oldschool. The game features what I'd call 'strafe mode', instead of dedicated strafe keys, so you can't really play it like you would any other FPS. So online I found there's a top-notch port of Wolfenstein 3D to windows called Wolf4SDL. I grabbed the source code, made it so your left/right keys always make you strafe, and made it so the mouse doesn't move you forward/black, and boom, now I can actually play Wolf3D!

Download it here. Extract this zip into your Wolf3D folder. If you don't have Wolf3D, just go get the shareware version. Source code can be found hereThis will not work with Spear of Destiny.

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