August backlog busted!

Okay, so I've been thinking of the way I post lately. Obviously one post per month is too few, but posting for every game I beat seems spammy. Hopefully these monthly posts keep people curious and coming back for more, kind of like a "what's in the box" type novelty to keep things interesting. 

All being said, let's see what I been doing about my backlog in august. 

Zombie Driver HD.

This Xbox live arcade game has a neat premise, zombie driver. Drive around and smash zombies while completing special objectives, usually picking up survivors and dropping them off at the friendly military base. Special objectives will unlock new vehicles that can be upgraded in the pre-mission screen, along with more powerful guns that are unlocked with cash, then picked up mid-mission. I can't say much other than 'meh' to this game, it was okayish, not ground breaking in any way, but not terrible either. Btw, it actually had a few bossfights, in a driving game? Now I seen it all. 

Alien Rage

So CI games has a reputation for making alot of off-brand medal of honor games, off brand-call of duty games, and now and off-brand Gears of War game, well, kinda. Alien Rage starts with a decent premise, Humans and aliens (the Vorus) have found rich deposits of Promethium on an asteroid and decided to co-operate and share the newfound wealth, at least until aliens do what they do best, and screw over humanity. There's a bunch of data slates hidden around the game, but I'm not one for audio books, so whatever nuance the plot had was lost on me. Hehe, rifle go brrrr. 

Alien Rage may sound like a 2nd tier shooter, but in all honesty It was a pretty enjoyable game that didn't overstay it's welcome. The bossfights were a pretty nice touch, scoring and perks added some visual flare and kept things fresh, not that Alien Rage overstayed it's welcome, the game took me about 5 hours to beat, that's one gaming session for a maniac like me. A surprisingly good title. 

Dying Light

I finally wrapped up Dying light after putting it off for so long. This fan favourite melee zombie adventure needs no introduction. Since 2015 fans of the series have been enjoying continual dlc's and seasonal events to this day. It's a zombie punching, kicking massacre as much as a free running simulator                

While I'm not as huge a fan as other players I must admit; drop-kicking a zombie off a rooftop is pretty dope. Stay tuned for a more in-depth post about my thoughts on Dying Light.

Brutal Legend

This 2009 Metal music focused title is hard to describe, there's so much going on here. Jack Black plays the games musclebound guitar playing protagonist Eddie Riggs (basically himself irl), who is somehow transported to a long lost era of metal gods and demons, locked in a brutal conflict. The plot to Brutal Legend is pretty epic, but then again, everything about the game is epic *guitar solo*

Plot and gameplay in Brutal Legend revolves around metal music, anything from summoning your 'Druid Plow' to unearthing forgotten relics requires Eddies musical talents. Even the games combat system makes use of some carefully selected guitar solos. Not that this is the only music in the game.

Brutal legend has a whackload of licensed tracks, I was quite surprised to hear some Children of Bodom. Some of the artists make their way into the game as side characters, though alot of them are outside my musical knowledge, Ozzy was pretty hard to miss. Aside from musicians, Evil Lord Deviculus is voiced by none other than the legendary Tim Curry, nice. 

All said and done, I was quite glad I played Brutal Legend, I received it as a gift and had it sitting around for a while. the only downside of the game is that it wasn't made in 2019 with modern advances in game engines and hardware, otherwise, this metal is gold. 

Dusk

2018's Dusk is one of those games that  I had such high expectations for, that I actually avoided playing the retro shooter after it was gifted to me a while ago. Like saving desert for last, I assumed that Dusk would be the highlight of my 2020 and let it stew in it's own rich juices until it left early access and captured my attention once more. Finally playing a game like this can be disappointing though. The hype train sometimes stops in Disappointment City. So, did Dusk Deliver?...                                 

...It sure as heck did! Everything from Andrew Hulshults tracks to the blistering fast movement and gunplay is top notch. Pacing, variety, weapons, and the fact that Dusk holds the horror theme quite consistently for such an action packed game is worth some accolades. Lovecraftian elements do draw on Quake 1 a little, but I count these as more of a homage than blatant copying. Don't get me wrong, Dusk does it's own thing while nestling itself snugly between titles 20+ years its senior. "...A fine addition to my collection" if I may quote a certain Starwars character. 

Necrovision

Another gifted game, maybe now you can guess where some of my backlog comes from.

Polish developers The Farm 51 graced us withe Necrovision all the way back in 2009. If I had to summarize the entire game with two words they would be 'hot mess'. Just getting Necrovision to function on my old rig was wasn't' going to happen, so after some major pc upgrades I got a much more stable run at this WW1 themed romp.                             

Necrovision is really unique in both gameplay and story. Dual wielding, thrown melee weapons, and a scoring system are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the gameplay. About halfway through the campaign players will find themselves outfitted with a talking gauntlet and piloting mechs to fight the forces of evil, though this merely matches the utter madness of Necrovisions story. 

Every mission in Necrovisions campaign had me delving deeper and deeper into a plot of zombies, mad scientists, demons, dragons, and even vampires. All while our protagonist Simon Bukner served to keep things down to earth and convincingly American. I can't say that Necrovision was a perfect game, but it was sure a wild ride

August is complete!

So that's another month of gaming all wrapped up. Focusing on shorter games makes for a more impressive haul, but as you'll soon see, I have some longer and more difficult games to scratch off the ol' list. Moving into September will have some long-time backlogged items for me to focus on, then it's the Spooktober lineup, whatever that may be. 

Handick cares abut your backog! Comment below what you think of this kind of post, or if you own any of these games. Remember Comrades, we're in this together, lets beat the backlog!