God damn, weekend, you have to stop sneaking up on me like this!
Yup, the weekend is here yet again, thundering into our lives like a rhino that’s desperate for a Mars Bar. Why would a Rhino be desperate for a Mars Bar? I dunno. Just go with it.
So, asking what everyone is playing this weekend feels a bit redundant. I’m pretty sure everyone is jumping into the new word that Rockstar have created in Red Dead Redemption 2, a game so vast and detailed that there have been moments where I’ve genuinely wondered if actual fun has been sacrificed in the persuit of realism and authenticity. I can hear the angry typing for now, so I’ll say this: I’m still loving it so far, but it’s far from a perfect game, too. On a purely technical level, though, it’s frankly astounding and everyone who worked on the game should be immensely proud of the work they have done. I’ll be aiming to review it as soon as I can, but obviously given the size it could take me a little while.
Of course, the game’s launch has been marred by the recent revelations surrounding Rockstar’s work ethics, or perhaps their lack of them. An off-hand comment from some of their team about working 100-hour weeks has once again brought the topic of crunch time into the eyes of the public, which for anyone who doesn’t know is the act of putting in overtime to get a game finished. Typically crunch time occurs toward the end of a game’s development as the company puts pressure on the employees to finish everything on time. The fact that crunch time has its own name and is a widely accepted part of the video game industry is disguisting, so it’s good to see the topic being raised again and numerous articles have emerged where employees and former employees of Rockstar have spoken out against the company. I highly suggest reading this piece by Eurogamer and this other one by Kotaku. Of course, there have also been employees stating that Rockstar is a great place to work. As always there are numerous sides to every story.
Listening to the awesome Easy Allies podcast today I learned that Marvel’s Spider-Man (which I freaking loved, as per my review) has apparently sold 37% more than every other Spider-Man game combined. Let that sink in for a moment. Every. Other. Spider-Man. Game. Combined. It deserves it, too. It’s awesome.
This week I’ve been wrapping my tentacles around the new Call of Cthulhu which is due to release on October 30th, which is also when the reviews will be going live, including mine. I can’t say anything without breaking the NDA, sadly, but keep an eye out for that.
I’m still playing the crap out of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. I wrapped up my pretty glowing review, but the lure of loot and side-quests has kept me going back for me. It’s an easy game to sink just 20-minutes into or a couple of hours, unlike Red Dead Redemption 2 where I think you have to be in a certain mood to enjoy its methodical pace.
Other than that I’ve not been playing anything else. I’m mostly trying to fit some films in as there are bunches I want to catch up on as well as TV shows. I’m really excited to check out the new Sabrina series as well as The Haunting of Hill House.
I just rewatched one of my favorites, too: Tucker & Dale vs Evil, a truly hilarious story following two country folk who get mistaken for hillybilly killers by some teens who are on holiday. The premise gives way to some amazing scenes where the teenagers manage to get themselves killed by accident, including leaping into a wood chipper, while Tucker and Dale think their caught in the middle of some crazy suicide cult. It’s utterly brilliant and I implore you to go watch it.
Other than that, I’ve been seeing a drop in views on the site over the last month or two which has me a tad down in the dumps. I need to see if I can figure out a cause. Maybe the quality of my reviews has dropped or I’m not getting them out fast enough. It could also partially be the lack of board game content which is entirely my fault. I’ve got a load I keep meaning to review.
Ah well. To all those still reading I’m eternally grateful and promise that when I rule the world you will be given supervisor positions in the mines.
So, what are you playing this weekend?
