![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalHoly f*cking sh*t.
Now I remember how scary Doom was the first time I played it through.
The Story: You're Tommy, a disaffected ex-Army Oklahoma Cherokee Indian. At about 2 am you find yourself in your girlfriend Jen's bar, fruitlessly trying to convince her to leave the reservation with you for the 42nd time, while you ignore your grandfather's pleas to Respect Your Ancestry (tm). [1]
After beating up a couple of drunk good old boys hitting on Jen, your chance to get one last beer is interrupted by aliens kidnapping you, Grandfather, Jen, and in fact the whole friggin' bar. You find yourself aboard a titantic planetoid orbiting the Earth, and can only watch helplessly as Grandfather is killed in what looks like a meat processing plant, while Jen is hauled away and you're left wandering through an alien station armed with only with your wits and a heavy wrench.
The planetoid is a marvelous whacked out environment, with gooey bio-tech grafted onto steel walls and rock faces. The most mindbending part of the place is the artificial gravity, which leads you to running and gunning along walls and ceilings. You also have to contend with a nifty portal system, allowing you to pass through small gates to different areas. It's nothing new, but it's far superior to the standard game teleports, in that you can actually see and shoot at your destination throught the portal, which can lead to disconcerting moments as you watch yourself enter a portal via the image projected by another portal.
Along the way, courtesy of being Native American, your Grandfather's spirit shows up to give you guidance on how to awaken your latent Cherokee Warrior Spirit Powers (tm) [2] and bring the fight to the aliens (and rescue Jen, natch). This leads to such fun abilities as Spirit Walk, allowing you to pass through force fields, shoot Spirit Arrows, and manipulate equipment to ease your passage. Not to mention having a cool Raven Spirit Guide (tm) to help you along when the path isn't sufficiently railroaded.
This is all fine and well, but the game also features excellent editing and voice acting. The environment is marvelously detailed, with the screams of the kidnapped and dying humans all around you, and it all playing out like more of a big budget movie than a game. And the horror of the situation (Grandpa's death is particularly nasty) is leavened with bits of humor, as Tommy and the bar are wisked away to the tune of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" on the bar's stereo, and getting a brief update on what's happening on the Earth as Tommy listens in to a intercepted transmission from a certain famed conspiracy radio show host's broadcast.
As soon as I get a new job, I'll be celebrating by buying this game.
[1] Note to Grandpa: I don't care how much of a traditionalist you are, showing up in a sleazy reservation bar in full ceremonial dress is kinda wierd.
[2] Perhaps not quite as good as having the powers of a Lakota Sioux Armed With an Obsidian Sword, but sometimes you just have to make do.
Now I remember how scary Doom was the first time I played it through.
The Story: You're Tommy, a disaffected ex-Army Oklahoma Cherokee Indian. At about 2 am you find yourself in your girlfriend Jen's bar, fruitlessly trying to convince her to leave the reservation with you for the 42nd time, while you ignore your grandfather's pleas to Respect Your Ancestry (tm). [1]
After beating up a couple of drunk good old boys hitting on Jen, your chance to get one last beer is interrupted by aliens kidnapping you, Grandfather, Jen, and in fact the whole friggin' bar. You find yourself aboard a titantic planetoid orbiting the Earth, and can only watch helplessly as Grandfather is killed in what looks like a meat processing plant, while Jen is hauled away and you're left wandering through an alien station armed with only with your wits and a heavy wrench.
The planetoid is a marvelous whacked out environment, with gooey bio-tech grafted onto steel walls and rock faces. The most mindbending part of the place is the artificial gravity, which leads you to running and gunning along walls and ceilings. You also have to contend with a nifty portal system, allowing you to pass through small gates to different areas. It's nothing new, but it's far superior to the standard game teleports, in that you can actually see and shoot at your destination throught the portal, which can lead to disconcerting moments as you watch yourself enter a portal via the image projected by another portal.
Along the way, courtesy of being Native American, your Grandfather's spirit shows up to give you guidance on how to awaken your latent Cherokee Warrior Spirit Powers (tm) [2] and bring the fight to the aliens (and rescue Jen, natch). This leads to such fun abilities as Spirit Walk, allowing you to pass through force fields, shoot Spirit Arrows, and manipulate equipment to ease your passage. Not to mention having a cool Raven Spirit Guide (tm) to help you along when the path isn't sufficiently railroaded.
This is all fine and well, but the game also features excellent editing and voice acting. The environment is marvelously detailed, with the screams of the kidnapped and dying humans all around you, and it all playing out like more of a big budget movie than a game. And the horror of the situation (Grandpa's death is particularly nasty) is leavened with bits of humor, as Tommy and the bar are wisked away to the tune of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" on the bar's stereo, and getting a brief update on what's happening on the Earth as Tommy listens in to a intercepted transmission from a certain famed conspiracy radio show host's broadcast.
As soon as I get a new job, I'll be celebrating by buying this game.
[1] Note to Grandpa: I don't care how much of a traditionalist you are, showing up in a sleazy reservation bar in full ceremonial dress is kinda wierd.
[2] Perhaps not quite as good as having the powers of a Lakota Sioux Armed With an Obsidian Sword, but sometimes you just have to make do.
