Archive for April, 2018

God Of War: This Is The Real Deal

Posted in Best / Worst, Games with tags on April 22, 2018 by slateman

I’ve only just begun, but I’ve already uttered the famous words, “This represents everything I love about videogames.” Just a few hours in and I’m mystified by the world, intrigued by Kratos’s relationship with his son and left in awe at how spectacular the game looks. It’s simply amazing and is the best-looking videogame I’ve ever feasted my eyes upon.

And so to commemorate a mere portion of the game, I’m sharing some of that visual splendor. These are spoilers, of course, but holy shit, do they look good! I will be back with more, that is a certainty. Oh, and Ghost Of Sparta was a surprising title. It was a lot of fun, had an excellent story and it’s a game I’m glad to have gone back to consume. Unfortunately, GOW: Ascension simply couldn’t hold my interest. It’s OK. I’ll dare say the current God Of War may very well be the series’ best. Bold words after a few scant hours. That’s a testament to just how good things are going so far! OK, enough ado! Spoilers ahead!

God Of War Is Coming! A Look Back

Posted in Blog, Games with tags , on April 12, 2018 by slateman

The image shown here displays a few years of GoW history. However it omits my two playthroughs of the original on the PS2 and one run through its sequel. Yeah, I suppose I played 1, 2, 1, 3, 1, 2, 3, A, COA, GOS, if you had to really break it down, not counting incomplete playthroughs of those PSP games back in the day.

And as shallow as the games truly are, they were enough to beckon me to return, as made evident here. Now, I’ve only just begun Ghost of Sparta and never finished Ascension and so I’m by no means the series’ biggest fan. However I do believe that God Of War III’s finale was the perfect way to close the series out. It finished the tale and did so in utterly brutal fashion. And while they revisited it later, the trilogy feels very much complete and actually concise once you cut out the other three unnecessary games.

But in only eight days the series takes an enormous leap forward into Scandinavia! Both the story and the setting intrigue me and the visual splendor will be a marvel to behold. Hell, the remaster of 3 was stunning! I am thoroughly excited about the game’s return. Now, the change in tone will be as substantial as the new locale. Atreus. A bearded Kratos playing father. No more chain blades. I, for one, look forward to the new GOW formula. Reviews are glowing, but you can tell they’re holding back on story and gameplay info. What’s going on? How did Kratos’ new wife die? Wait, who is she and why is he there? It’s refreshing to know these details aren’t flowing from the developers and publisher. That restraint will help millions go into this game blindly, just as it should be. It’s hard to believe that 13 years have passed since the first game landed. I was still living in NY, to give that perspective. It’s been eight years since GOW III closed the trilogy out! I suppose amidst all that waiting, one final week should be easy. But some perfect-10 scores only made me thirst for more. April 20th cannot come soon enough!

Oh – and after getting the platinum in 2018’s masterpiece, the above image has been updated to reflect that milestone! :)

Kalmah Get! Album Of The Year?

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Music with tags on April 6, 2018 by slateman

The mighty Finns return with album # 8 trying to trump the masterpiece that was Seventh Swamphony. The first singles didn’t win me over, but then again neither did the title track of album #7 and I’m thinking that may be top-20 ever. Really.

So, with the arrival of Palo – is Kalmah a shoe-in for yet another AotY victory? They took 2013, narrowly missed 2010, and won three times in the ’00s. Only fellow Finnish metalers Moonsorrow even mustered three AotY titles – could Kalmah make this their fifth?

Well, hold on now. We’ve got the mighty return of Dimmu Borgir ahead, Amorphis and even an Abbath-less Immortal record looming. However, neither of the two Norwegian bands ever captured an annual crown and Amorphis last flew their blue-and-white 24 years ago with 1994’s AotY Tales From The Thousand Lakes, truly a genre-defining album.

While some stragglers could pose a threat, there’s only one I can currently predict to genuinely battle the swamplords for the title. Yes, At The Gates is back! We’ve been treated to a pair of tracks from their second post-hiatus album: one an average filler song and the other which could vie for the best ATG riff ever written. That thing is a monster and made me salivate for the LP a mere eight seconds into the title track. The album arrives in six short weeks, plenty of time to devour this Kalmah opus.

And speaking of…just being a new Kalmah record is hardly enough to secure top honors for the year. Subsequent listens of those first singles has really gotten me on board, but some of the middle tracks haven’t hooked me yet. It ends well, with catchy grooves and some bloody-fucking-fast blastbeats. However, I’m not fully convinced it’ll lie atop 2018’s heap of music just yet. But come to think of it, the same thing happened with Vintersorg just last year. Let’s check back in a few weeks. They’ll inevitably reclaim the title as my top-played band, but beyond that – who knows. ATG might very well be that goddamn good!!!