Scratches: The Director’s Cut on PC (6/10)

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Having whet my appetite for adventure games on the excellent Sam and Max series, I thought it would be a good time to try some more modern PC adventure games. Scratches is an indie game that uses the tried and (not-so) true first-person point-and-click gameplay formula. Myst, Hell Cab, Dragon Lore… I have many fond memories… well, not really fond, but I do remember playing a lot of those types of games from back at the dawn of the CD-ROM era.

Scratches Hunt the Pixel!

Now, I liked this game for reasons I will go into in a bit, but it did serve as a huge reminder as to what really sucked about first-person point-and-click games. First there are the dreaded “hunt the pixel” situations. Scratches isn’t that bad in this respect, but there were two or three times when a puzzle was unsolvable until I found the exact cursor position (see the image to the left – I’m supposed to be picking up that stone). Secondly, a lot of the time there is no indication that a graphical element is important. Rather than saying, “You are in a dark room full of junk, but there is a useful looking crowbar here,” you are supposed to click on every object in the pile of junk and just randomly figure out that you can only pick up the crowbar.

That said, I did like the game. Once the narrative kicks in the game gets very interesting (and believe me it takes a long time of aimless exploring before things start to happen). You slowly learn the dark history of the house via newspaper clippings, diaries and other found texts. And once you are fully versed in the lore, unexplained things start happening. I have never been this creeped out by a game (and I have even played House of the Dead 2), let alone being creeped out by what is, for all intents and purposes, a glorified slideshow. Nonetheless, thanks to an awesome, well-integrated soundtrack the game gets VERY creepy. It’s worth slogging through this one with a walkthrough by your side just to experience those intense moments of horror.

Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie (7/10)

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The final book of the First Law trilogy was a sort of step backwards from the previous book. In the previous book I grew to like a few of the characters. Unfortunately, in this book Abercrombie goes back to playing up the shades of gray and, by the time the finale kicks in, I stopped caring about everybody and just wanted the book to end.

Obento Alternative by DS i Love You - CD (9/10)

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DS i Love You is actually one man, Kanji Honma, a Nintendo DSi and the excellent Korg DS cartridge. Given that credo, you might expect this to sound like your typical 8-bit video game music, but it doesn’t. While there are hints of the 8-bit aesthetic, the final product really comes across more like a gritty version of Kraftwerk, or, more appropriately, Yellow Magic Orchestra. This is a very good thing. DS i Love You is so much more interesting than most of the DJ driven electronica that gets churned out these days. Unlike those knob-twisting posers, Honma places song structure and melodic phrases over loops and beats. It’s amazing the sounds he comes up with given the limitations of his medium. Most excellent. I can’t wait until is second Christmas album gets released here in the States.

Sam and Max: The Devil’s Playhouse on PC (9/10)

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Having been burnt twice by buying the technically challenged Wii versions on Season 1 & 2, I decided to move from the den to the office and play season three on my PC. The visual difference is astounding. This game looks great both in terms of graphic quality and its cartoony art direction. This has been my favorite of the three seasons. In addition to usual humor and wacky characters, there seems to be much more focus on unifying all the episodes under a larger story arc. They’ve also mixed-up the gameplay a bit by giving Max a variety of psychic powers that add to your puzzle solving arsenal. That may have made the game a little easier, but I still felt satisfaction as I progressed through the game’s puzzles. Bring on season four!

Occupy Whatever

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I had thought that the whole occupy Wall Street thing had lost all its steam but then some cop had go and kick it up a notch by spraying a little peppery spice. Bam! All the sudden pepper spray policeman has become a rallying point for the OWS supporters. I suppose this is good for the cause, because, frankly, up until now they haven’t had any sort of unifying message around which to rally. Personally, despite my general agreement about wall street bailouts and corporate cronyism,  I never was a big fan of the movement. It seems to be yet another iteration of standard decades-old lefty memes mixed with the usual chanting and hackneyed street theater. Okay, you dislike corporatism and wealth inequities, but how does camping out all night for weeks on end make your point—other than leading to the inevitable conflict with “The Man?” That seems to be the end game of all these lefty protests. Wear out your welcome, then incite some sort of police confrontation and maybe you’ll get some (literal) kick-ass images you and your bearded hipster pals being dragged away by the boys in blue. But this is just that aforementioned street theater. Unless you are showing civil disobedience over not being allowed to camp in a city park, your point is lost. The vague demands of OWS could just as easily and effectively be made during normal business hours and you could use your evenings for spending time with your family or showering.

Two Nuns and a Pack Mule by Rapeman - CD (9/10)

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There’s still quite a bit of Big Black’s sound in this Albini follow up project. The guitar (there’s only one this time around) screeches with the same fury as before and, this time around, he’s found a human drummer. As one might expect, the songs have more of a live feel and are less industrial-sounding. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Being the synth-nerd I am, I tend to favor the more mechanized noise of Big Black. That said, most of the tracks on this disc are pretty great. However, looming around the edges are songs like “Budd” which showcases the indy-rock-jam-band self indulgence of those later Shellac records.

The Declaration of Independents by Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch (8/10)

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This was a nice manifesto of sorts that hits all the right marks in terms of what it means to be an “independent” in today’s political climate. The authors are both libertarians, so I mostly agree with much of what they had to say, although I suspect they may be succumbing to a little confirmation bias when they read “independents” as being primarily libertarian. They make their best points when explaining how everything is better today than it was in the past and most of that progress had nothing to do with politics. It’s a nice continuation of the many of the ideas that where developed in the excellent The Future and Its Enemies. There is also plenty on how, once you get past the rhetoric, Republicans and Democrats are more or less the same.

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie (8/10)

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Although I was disappointed by The Blade Itself, I decided to continue on with the series to see if all that plodding, plot-less character development was worth the time I invested in the book. As a matter of act, it was. Book two feels more structured and the characters actually have goals that almost relate to one and other. Plot-wise it’s some pretty standard stuff here: there’s the quest for the magic object of ultimate power, the great battle against the foe from afar, and the well-nigh impossible stronghold defense against foe from afar #2. What sets this book apart from other fantasy stories I have read is the general unlikability of most of the main characters. Just when you think there might be a moment of redemption things always seem to go back into the crapper. That said, I am going to continue on to book three expecting a big payoff that will be soured some how.

Art of the State by Quatre Tête - CD (7/10)

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My band has played with Quatre Tête a few times now. They share our taste for weird time signatures and, what’s the term, angular guitar riffs. They also have a taste for competent musicianship which my band has yet to acquire. Cover art by my friend Jay!