Try it Tuesday – August 6, 2019
As I mentioned in my previous posting, I always try to find some commonality, or theme, between the games I choose for Try it Tuesday. Whether it’s genre-based, or theme-based, it’s sometimes nice to try and tie the games together in that way for presentation purposes. Sometimes, it’s a mixed bag. Other times, it just works. The loose theme for this night, in a way, felt like it was ‘MERICA. Perhaps you, the reader, can see this as well.
The August 6th, 2019 edition of Try it Tuesday was as follows:
Area 51
You are part of the team that is storming ‘Area 51’. Find and release the aliens that are held captive and discover the mysteries that surround the base. Unlock new classes and abilities that will help you with your task as the military attempts to stop the hordes of people. For more information, or to purchase this game on Steam, visit https://store.steampowered.com/app/1125130/Area_51/
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When this was originally listed for the Try it Tuesday menu, many of our community thought that I was perhaps playing the 2005 game of the same title, which stars David Duchovny, Marilyn Manson, Powers Boothe, and Nolan North. The old title was from the PS2 and OG Xbox era, and was a remake of an old light gun video game that also sported the same name. Of course, this is not the case – the Area 51 I was playing was a very new title based on the meme of Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us, and it goes without saying that it was a meme game to its core. You start off as a Naruto runner, although you can choose several different classes as you progress through the game. Your entire goal is to basically just save the little green men, and as meme-y and bad as the game was, I was legitimately kind of having a really good time just trying to find the little green men and rescue them so I could hear them go “WEEEEEEEE, I’M GOING HOMEEEEE”. I have played worse meme games, for sure. Take this one with a grain of salt, though.
Metal Wolf Chaos XD
Metal Wolf Chaos XD is a modernized re-release of FromSoftware’s 2004 mech shooter with upgraded visual fidelity, refined controls and gameplay, a new save system, and 4K + 16:9 support for modern displays. For more information, or to purchase this game in the Humble store, visit http://sktn.link/metalwolf
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Metal Wolf Chaos XD is actually a remastered version of an old game, also from the OG Xbox era of gaming, that was developed by FromSoftware. The game never made it to a Western audience until recently with the help of Devolver Digital, who originally expressed interest in bringing the game stateside back in 2016. Through several conversations between each company, we were finally granted the opportunity to lay eyes upon Metal Wolf Chaos XD, which is what I can only assume Japan thought, and possibly still thinks, America is like. I can’t say they’re wrong, except we do not yet really have mechs to just walk around in and battle tanks with. BUT I DIGRESS. Metal Wolf Chaos XD takes place across the entirety of the United States, where we get to play as the President, who controls a piloted mech, kitted out with any weapon you can think of or dream up. The President is fighting a coup d’etat, and…. well, that’s kind of the jist of it. Travel from mission to mission, acquire new tech and weapons, and destroy your enemies with them. It is balls to the wall mindless action, and it feels like you’re playing a 90’s movie. I really enjoyed this game, and it’s very likely I’ll return to it on the Return to Try it Tuesday series for a more complete playthrough in the future. Thank you for bringing this title to us, Devolver Digital – you’re doing good work.
The Church In The Darkness
The year is 1977. Your nephew Alex has joined a religious cult and moved with them to the South American jungle. In The Church In The Darkness, it’s up to you to sneak into the commune, find out what’s really going on, and decide if you need to get Alex out. For more information, or to purchase this game in the Humble Store, visit http://sktn.link/church-darkness
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I recently played another cult game called Sagebrush on my 12 Hours of Scary Shit horror marathon – a regular staple of my Twitch channel. Sagebrush followed the story of an abandoned cult, and you were basically wandering the compound trying to figure out what happened there. The Church In The Darkness is another cult game, but much different in its themes and execution. The game sort of sets you up with the backstory and tone from the start – and it feels like you’re in a loosely-based version of Jonestown. The game plays out differently each time you enter the cult, as maps are randomized, plots change depending on a variety of factors including difficulty and aforementioned randomization, and you realize that your choices have more weight to them then you initially thought. My knee-jerk reaction to the game was that I felt the top-down perspective was jarring at first, because many of the screenshots for the game provide a more isometric perspective and that is what I thought the game would look like. It didn’t take too long to get used to though, and then you sink in to what you have to do. Search chests and wardrobes for different items that will help you find Alex, your nephew, and ultimately escape the compound – with or without him – OR join the cult. I played through the game a couple of times on my stream, and each playthrough was definitely different. The first time, I accidentally joined the cult, and it turned out that they were peaceful and we lived out a happy life there. The second time, I escaped with my nephew, who resented leaving with me despite one of the cult leaders killing the other and setting the compound on fire. There were well over a dozen documented outcomes to the story, which drove up the replayability factor immensely. The Church In The Darkness felt like a stealth roguelite, with interesting themes that fall outside of the standard type of game you would describe with either of those adjectives. I hope to see continued updates and developments to this title for sure, and other then the top-down perspective being hard to get into, I really enjoyed my time with this game.