The home of Artie B.'s Thing of the Week [as well as some other stuff]. Use the buttons below to navigate between pages.
Uh... hi!
It's been a while, but we're back at it again - and I know I say this every time, but this time I'm back for good. I hope.
ahem - anyway - this week's TOTW is... the Steam Deck, the handheld gaming console from Valve! Ever since this thing was announced way back in 2021, I have desperately wanted to get my hands on one. Unfortunately for me, however, Valve seems to be allergic to Australia and will not officially release their hardware over here. It took aaaages for an 'international version' to crop up on Amazon, and it took even longer for me to save for - and eventually purchase - it. But, alas, I finally have it in my grasp and holy crap is it cool.
Fun side story: When I initially bought this, it broke in three days due to a manufacturing error. I was absolutely devastated. Fortunately, the seller was able to offer me a replacement, which is the one I have now. I am in constant fear it will break again with my luck.
Anyway - story aside - if you don't know what the Steam Deck is, it's basically a chunky Nintendo Switch that runs on Linux, allowing it to do pretty much anything a normal Linux computer can do, including syncing to your Steam library so you can play games on the go. I bought the 256GB LCD version because I am not saving for another year to buy the 512GB or OLED version. So far, I've been loving it. Not only have I managed to download and seamlessly play a heap of games from my Steam library, but I've been able to go into 'Desktop Mode' [essentially just a Linux desktop] and download Heroic Games Launcher to play my Epic, GOG and Amazon Games, all of which run perfectly even at near-max graphics.
There's loads of cool features of the Steam Deck, but the ones I've been having the most fun messing around with are the control schemes. See, you can set a unique control scheme for each game you have, and they're completely customisable. For example, you can program the rear buttons of the Deck for convenience, turn the haptic touchpads into a mouse, or even add gyroscopic aiming to the game - all natively supported! It's so fun. The two games I've been playing the most so far have been Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed - an amazing kart-racing game which is, in my opinion, better than Mario Kart and runs flawlessly on the Deck - and Immortals: Fenyx Rising - an open-world game very similar to Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom that, again, runs perfectly despite being launched through Epic Games [or rather, Heroic Games Launcher].
In conclusion, the Steam Deck is an absolutely awesome piece of kit that I can't wait to start using when I'm out and about. I just hope I didn't get another faulty one. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week for another TOTW! Goodbye!
Extra Info:
Official Website
Hello, and welcome back to Thing of the Week! I was sick last week - hence why there was no TOTW - but I am feeling much better now, and I've been working on a lot of stuff [but I won't share it with you just yet]. Anyway, I've been experiencing some technical difficulties with the site recently, so please ignore any
Extra Info:
Official Website
Toodlepip and welcome back to Thing of the Week - today, it's the co-op puzzle game We Were Here! I recently played through this with a friend of mine after hearing nothing but good things, and we really enjoyed it! Basically, you are a duo of arctic explorers that find yourselves in a seemingly abandoned medieval castle. You are separated when you get inside, but each of you has a radio which you can use to communicate with one another. To escape, you'll need to relay information and instructions back and forth between one another. Sounds simple enough, but a lot of the game's puzzles are surprisingly complex. That said, I never felt like any puzzle was outright unfair, which is definitely a good thing: many other 'escape room' or puzzle games often have really dumb and outlandish puzzles that you could never have solved without a hint. [I'm looking at you, Escape from Monkey Island!] So, yeah, props to Total Mayhem Games for making something cohesive.
I was also pretty impressed with the whole atmosphere of the game - it's not meant to be scary, but there are a few moments that freaked me out, such as when you see things moving in the dungeon puzzle, or when a huge black marionette creature slowly approaches you in the final puzzle. The story really piqued my curiosity, so I'll definitely have to check out the other games in the We Were Here series at some point.
Spoilers ahead, but I also really enjoyed the ending. After solving all the puzzles, you meet with your partner and are faced with a gate and a pressure plate on opposite ends of a hallway. You can stand on the pressure plate to open the gate, but you won't both be able to make it in time to get out, meaning only one person can escape. Really cool, and spooky, ending to be stuck in the castle forever.
So, yeah, We Were Here is a really cool, atmospheric co-op puzzle game that's free on Steam, meaning you should definitely go and check it out! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week for another TOTW!
Extra Info:
Official Website l Steam Page
Hello there, and welcome back to Thing of the Week, where this week's Thing is...
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor! You may recall Deep Rock Galactic from when I talked about it in Week 38 [or when I talked about it in my video]. Recently [and I do mean recently - only 2 days ago at time of writing], a spin-off rougelite survivors-like auto-shooter came out - Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. As a big fan of the main game, I grabbed this one the second I saw it was out, and so far it's been really fun! [Despite the fact I suck at it].
If you're not familiar with the survivors-like genre, I'll quickly catch you up: The gist is, you shoot automatically at increasingly massive swarms of enemies whilst attemping to survive long enough to complete the level. It's that simple! In DRG: Survivor specifically, there are a few extra features, like the ability to mine through the obstacles in the level, allowing you to make new paths and collect valuable ore, which you can then use to upgrade your abilities when you inevitably succumb to the hoarde. When you're in the caves, you'll gain XP upon defeating enemies, which will allow you to level up, increasing the power of your weapons, your movement speed, your crit chance, et cetera. This means that, if you gain enough levels, you can become SUPER overpowered in some aspects. For example, you could make sure to choose specifically movement speed boosts whenever you level up, meaning by the end of your run you'll be travelling at Mach 3 when running away from the Glyphid swarm. Each level has a timer at the top, which will activate certain events when it reaches specific milestones. So, there might be a swarm after a while, or an Elite enemy could appear, or the heavens could part and gift you with a Resupply Pod. In each level, there are four stages and a boss stage; meaning you'll have to fight off 4 Elite enemies before you can even think about fighting the final boss: a Glyphid Dreadnought. If you survive these first stages, you'll make it to the last one, where the Dreadnought will only come out of its cocoon if you break open all the smaller ones first. Now you can fight the Dreadnought, which, let me tell you, is much easier said than done. This thing is tanky to the max, meaning you'll have to endure the ever-growing waves of smaller enemies whilst fighting it off. If you manage to defeat the Dreadnought, then good job! You win! Now you can progress to other levels, try your hand at a higher hazard level and more! At least, I think. I'm really bad at the game, I haven't actually beaten a Dreadnought yet. I got really close though!
On top of all the other stuff, there're also the classes from the main game - Scout, Gunner, Driller, and Engineer - all with their own unique weapons. Unfortunately, though, the game isn't multiplayer, so there's none of the amazing teamwork that really made DRG special.
Overall, DRG: Survivor is a really fun spin-off, and while it of course isn't as good as its older brother, I've been having a blast playing it all the same. It's still in early access, too, so there's bound to be loads more stuff added to improve the game even further! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week for another TOTW - goobye!
Extra Info:
Official Website l Steam Page
Hi - welcome back to your favourite cranny of the internet, content_unavailable dot net, for your weekly fix of media reviews! Today's TOTW is...Good and Evil, the second album by Tally Hall!
If you've known me for a while [since TOTW 20, at least], you'll know that Tally Hall is my favourite band of all time. I finally got around to getting the CDs of Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum and Good and Evil recently, and since then have been re-listening to both nonstop. It was only then I realised that I hadn't actually done a TOTW on Good and Evil, so here it is!
G and E was dropped in 2011, 6 years after the release of MMMM. I honestly find it hard to determine which of the two is better - every time someone asks me which one I would recommend most, I am lost for words. Which, believe me, is a very good thing! MMMM is an amazing album, and for G and E to even be on the same level as it is a feat in and of itself. Another reason I find it so difficult to recommend one is because they're so different - G and E feels almost like a completely different band whilst still feeling like Tally Hall. I don't know how they pull this stuff off.
Anyway, the album features 14 tracks, from which my top 5 would probably be And, Cannibal, The Trap, Turn the Lights Off and Fate of the Stars. And and Turn the Lights Off are both really catchy; and Cannibal, The Trap and Fate of the Stars are a slightly different style that still really works and makes the songs just as awesome as the rest. Fun fact: I know how to play Cannibal and The Trap on guitar. Funner fact: Cannibal has twenty-something variations of the D chord from memory. It was very fun.
Another track that's really up there is You, which confuses me every time it comes on in my playlist because I think it's a song by Edu, Andrew Horowitz' [Green, Keys] own musical project.
In conclusion, Good and Evil is a very, very good album that you should definitely listen to if you haven't already. On top of that, the CDs for both this album and MMMM are really high quality, and look very good next to my Joe Hawley plushie. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week!
Extra Info:
Official Artist Website l Spotify Page
Hello! Welcome back to content_unavailable for this week's TOTW! No need to waffle this week, so let's just get right into it: this week's Thing is...
Tales of Terror from the Black Ship, the book by Chris Priestley! I recently remembered that I read a cool pirate-themed horror anthology many years ago, and after some incredibly vague Google searches, I somehow managed to find this book again. I read it all in about a week [which is a very short time to read a book for me], and I really enjoyed it! Like I said, Tales of Terror from the Black Ship is a children's horror anthology novel, where all the stories revolve in some way about ships, the ocean, or pirates. And you know how much I love pirates. All in all, there are 11 stories [including the bonus one], all of which are tied together by the central plot of a sailor telling stories to two sick children in a tavern. Now, when I said 'children's horror', you might have thought of Goosebumps, and to be honest you wouldn't be *that* far off. ToTftBS is the good kind of children's horror, where it's just scary enough that you can still be a bit creeped out at any age; but not so scary that it would give a kid nightmares. Or, at least, most kids.
All of the stories in the book are great, but my favourites are definitely Nature, The Monkey, The Scrimshaw Imp and The Black Ship. As much as I would love to, I won't give a synopsis of any of the stories, simply because there are heaps of twists and turns throughout, and I really don't want to spoil it for you. I highly recommend this book if you're into creepy stories with twists: it definitely checked all those boxes for me!
Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week for another TOTW!
Extra Info:
Goodreads
Hi!
Yeah, yeah, it's been a while, I know. And I know I've said that ''TOTW is coming back'' like six times now, but I'm not kidding this time, I swear! I've just had a bit of a hectic holiday and new year's season, but it's finally all back to normal, which means I can get back on schedule. First off, since it's been so long - Happy New Year to all of you! Thanks for sticking around. I've got some cool stuff planned this year for both the channel and the website, so you definitely don't wanna miss out! But, without further delay, here's the thing you came for: This week's TOTW is... Deep Rock Galactic, the 4-person co-op miner-shooter from Ghost Ship Games!
I got this at the very end of last year after hearing nothing but praise about it, and since then [keep in mind it's only been about a month] I've racked up nearly 100 hours! Now, I actually don't want to talk about this game much, and you'll see why in about a week from time of writing, but I'll do a little summary:
Deep Rock Galactic is a game where you and up to 3 other dwarven friends blast yourselves into the caves of one of the most dangerous planets in the galaxy in an attempt to extract valuable rocks and stones from the walls. Whilst doing this, however, you'll be bombarded with constant hoardes of the resident aliens; Glyphids, Mactera, and heaps more. Whilst you might think going around mining in a cave all the time would get boring quick, you'd actually be wrong: there're loads of different mission types for you to complete, including normal mining; fighting off giant Glyphids, called Dreadnoughts; salvaging broken technology; or building and protecting a refinery. DRG has massive amounts of diversity in its missions, only improved by the hazard levels, warnings, anomalies, and 4 unique character classes: Gunner, Driller, Engineer and Scout; all of whom have their own tailored strenghts and weaknesses which can be made up for if you work together as a team.
DRG is an absolute blast with friends, and like I said - teamwork makes the dreamwork. The game really forces you to work together or you'll be absolutely annihilated by the ever-increasing numbers of aliens.
Anyway - brief review over, thanks for reading! As I mentioned, I'll try get back on schedule with these - so, see you next week for another TOTW!
Extra Info:
Official Website l Steam Page
[c] Artie B. and content_unavailable, 2024