Space Sims used to be a vibrant and well populated genre.  Back in the 90s they command shelf real estate, right next to the latest and greatest RTS and Point and Click Adventure games.  Coming at the tail end of this era was Tachyon: The Fringe, released in 2000 by Novalogic games, well known for their regular flight sims and the Delta Force series. 

You play as Jake Logan, a freelancing mercenary, who quickly gets caught up in the midst of a fight for independence.  A megacorporation has been given the legal rights to mine on the Fringe, and you have to decide whether to help them invade and conquer this space for profits, or defend the native population.  And you do this all by flying your spaceship round and blowing shit up, as freelancers tend to do.  

Do its gameplay and story combine into a compelling experience?  Has Tachyon the Fringe stood the test of time, and is it worth strapping in to play a space sim?  Or did this genre die for a reason?

On this episode, we discuss:

Story

• The initial presentation of the corporation Galspan and the defending natives, the Bora, seems to lack any kind of nuance.  Galspan is fairly obviously evil and the natives are fighting the good fight.  Does the dual split narrative reveal a deeper and more compelling story where both sides have a point, or is this a simple tale of good versus evil?

Level Design

• The level design of Tachyon is a series of arenas connected by fast travel portals, not a big empty space.  This allows you to quickly get to where you need to go, but is there a cost for giving the player such rapid convenience?  How immersive does space feel if you barely move through it?

Combat

• Tachyon spices up the usual space arcade fighter by adding a strafe/slide function and giving you the ability to shift energy around between your systems.  Is this enough to elevate the action combat to brilliant fun, or is it just an endless series of repetitive battles?
   

We answer these questions and many more on the 126th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Tachyon: The Fringe OST: Tom Hays 

How well did Tachyon: The Fringe’s multiplayer work back in its heyday?  Does Freelancer really do what Tachyon was trying to do but better? Are there any other space sims that you think are genuinely better than both?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can support the show monetarily on our Buy Me a Coffee Page.

With another year done and dusted, Pat and James crack open another batch of listener questions. 
After curveballs like Killer 7 and Deadly Premonition, these should be a breeze.
Right..? 

On this episode, we discuss:

What are the best - and worst - smelling video game levels?

Can you tell us the story of how y’all met and decided to start this podcast? 

Was the fear of Baldur’s Gate 2 something you both developed as children? 
Or did you just become cowards as grown men?

We answer these questions and many more on Mailbag 6 of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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A huge shoutout to everyone who submitted questions this year, this episode wouldn’t have been possible without you. 

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Annihilation - The Alien: Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow

Cosmo Dreamer - Stage 8: DOVA-SYNDROME

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Think we were completely off the mark with some of our questions? 

Or do you have an even better answer of your own?

Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

If you would like to support the show monetarily, you can buy us a coffee here!

But can it run Crysis?  This was the motto that surrounded every single PC build for literal years after the release of the game in 2007.  Crytek were not satisfied with what they had achieved with Far Cry in 2004, and decided to push graphical hardware to its absolute limits with their brand new and shiny game.  And boy, did they succeed, with a poorly optimised but breathtakingly gorgeous game.  Even better, there was an entire video game attached to this graphical showcase, promising open ended tactical engagements over massive levels, far removed from corridor brawling.

You have cool suit powers that switch between modes, on the fly weapon modification, and a wide array of guns (and vehicles) to wreak havoc on those pesky North Koreans.  And if there are aliens, well, the United States of kick ass will just have to murder them as well.  It seems like an incredible game on paper, even today when we have more open world games than you can shake a stick at.

But for all that Crysis is vaunted for its massive leap forward in graphical technology, just how good a game is it to actually play?  Are the suit powers really that interesting in the face of the many RPG systems that tend to overlap FPS games today?  And is fighting those aliens all its cracked up to be?  Is Crysis worth your time to play today, or is it better remembered?

On this episode, we discuss:

The Suit.

Crysis’s key feature is a powerful exoskeleton that lets you switch between 4 modes - Strength, Armor, Speed and Stealth.  Just how well does the game push these suit modes in terms of engaging gameplay?  Are they balanced, and more importantly, are they fun to use?

The Guns.

How fun is the gunplay in Crysis?  The game features a fairly typical roster of assault rifles, submachine guns and shotguns, but has weapon modification on the fly with a simple menu.  Does this do enough to spice up the gunplay and keep things interesting?

The level design.

Crysis features (mostly) semi-open world level design, with bespoke objectives.  Does this give you the freedom to approach them in the way you want, and does it maintain this philosophy for the entire run time of the game?

We answer these questions and many more on the 124th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!
 

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Crysis OST: Inon Zur

The original version of the game, available on GOG, will fail to start on modern operating systems (Windows 10+). 

This can be fixed using the below link, which James used for this 

https://github.com/ccomrade/c1-launcher

Do you know what the gameplay differences are between Crysis 1 and the remastered version?  Do you think that Crysis is better than the Far Cry games that came afterwards?  When are we going to play Far Cry 2?  

Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

If you would like to support the show monetarily, you can buy us a coffee here!

After their magnum opus that was Resident Evil 1, Capcom were not going to sit on their heels.  Coming out just two years after the first in 1998, Resident Evil 2 sought to have everything the original had and much, much more.  It connected its two character’s stories in far more meaningful ways, increased the size of each player's inventory (and their respectives arsenals) and had more cinematic and explosive moments to show the player.

And boy did it do well!  It received universal critical acclaim, with everything from its graphical fidelity to its voice acting considered above and beyond the original.  Many players consider this to be the best Resident Evil game to this day.

But in the wake of the 2019 remake, and a longform view of what eventually became of the franchise - is Resident Evil 2 really all that its cracked up to be?  Do more zombies and more action automatically equal a better game?  Does more inventory slots, disappearing corpses and a more linear cinematic progression bode well from a gameplay sense?  How does Resident Evil 2 compare to its other offerings, and is it worth playing today?

On this episode we discuss:

Story

Resident Evil 2 presents its story in a very interesting way - two overlapping but distinct perspectives in Leon and Claire.  Does this experimental storytelling work, and how invested were we in its fundamentally B grade plot?

Level Design

Resident Evil 2s police station brings back most of what made the mansion so incredible, with its distinct spaces and looping level design. How does it compare to the original, and how enjoyable is it when you move away from the Police Station

Survival

Resident Evil 2 takes away the need to burn corpses, gives you more ammo and gives you more inventory slots.  What impact does this have on the tension of survival, and how different is the focus on tactical exploration?

We answer these questions and many more on the 123rd episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Resident Evil 2 OST: Masami Ueda, Shusaku Uchiyama, Syun Nishigaki

Which Resident Evil game is truly the best?  What were your experiences like playing the original games back in the day?  Are there any other survival horror games that come close to this franchise?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can support the show monetarily on our Buy Me a Coffee Page.

The Legend of Zelda is perhaps the most iconic video game series of all time.  Boasting 19 mainline entries, and an endless swathe of critical acclaim and awards, it's hard to find someone who hasn’t at least heard of the action/adventure story of Link and Zelda.  

It all began back in 1986 with the release of the first game for the Famicom in Japan.  The game begins immediately with an open ended structure, giving the player multiple paths to follow, and an open world to explore.  You explore and fight, get stronger and overcome challenges, and discover secrets along the way.  It might sound inconsequential, but on release Zelda was breathtakingly audacious in its design, with its non-linearity and enormous world.

But is it still an impressive title today?  Non-linearity and open worlds are par for the course now.  And while Zelda has been massively influential, that just means there have been thousands of attempts at refining and improving over what the original game offered.  Has The Legend of Zelda truly stood the test of time, or is it simply just a historical landmark?

On this episode, we discuss:

Exploration and Secrets

• Zelda, like many games of its era, boasts a huge manual, complete with a partially filled map to get you started on uncovering its many secrets.  Is the process of exploring and finding secrets enjoyable, or is its reputation as obtuse and frustrating to figure out justified?

Progress and keys

• Zelda is stunningly non-linear, with most of the gameworld immediately accessible if you know what you’re doing.  Does the design of giving the player more utility and power through their progress instead of straight up keys lead to a more engaging open world?  Or does the metroidvania formulae do it better?

Combat

• Just how enjoyable is the moment to moment gameplay of Zelda?  Enemies can be fast and furious, and the game wil often sling a lot of projectiles at you.  Does the game give you the tools to skillfully deal with the obstacles in your way, or is it just about hit trading and tanking through damage?

We answer these questions and many more on the 122nd episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Zelda OST: Koji Kondo

The full manual can be found here

What other games have been heavily inspired by Zelda that we completely blanked on?  What were your experiences exploring the world for the first time?  What Zelda game should we play next?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can support the show monetarily on our Buy me a Coffee page!

Killer7 is one weird game.  Developed in tandem by Grasshopper Manufacture and Capcom and first released in 2005, its very existence as a game defies description.  Within moments of starting, you’re placed into a world with talking bondage ghosts, a TV channel that drains your blood, and abstract puzzles that would fit right into Resident Evil.  Combine this with a cinematic third person slow rail shooter and you might have just a taste of what Killer7 is all about, but the truth is that you’re just scratching the surface of this enigma of a video game.

Killer7 has a diehard cult following, not just for its presentation and aesthetic, but for its incredibly deep and confusing story.  But for all its fans, what is the experience of playing Killer7 actually like?  Is there an enjoyable game underneath all of its layers?  Or are they merely disguising something that's all flash and no sizzle?

On this episode, we discuss:

Presentation and Style

Killer7 is absolutely dripping in style.  From the broader minimalistic cell shaded environments to something as simple as the way characters reload their weapons, there’s a unique vibe to this game that is hard to describe.  Does the glamour eventually wear off, or does its presentation remain compelling for the full game runtime?

Combat and Pacing

Killer7’s combat is most reminiscent of something like House of the Dead, with zombie-like enemies and a first person static shooting style.  Does it match the frantic pace and tension of a light gun game, or does giving the player total control of the rail movement lead to something more plodding?

Story

What exactly is Killer7 trying to say?  There are layers and layers of story here, from identity issues, to geopolitics, to conspiracy and control.  Is this a compelling and understandable story?  Does it make sense?  Does it even need to make sense?

We answer these questions and many more on the 121st episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

We are joined by special guest Dave Jackson of the Tales from the Backlog Podcast!  He reviews interesting games that would otherwise sit on your shelf, with a focus on having spoiler free discussion initially for people who are on the fence.  He also hosts A Top 3 Podcast, where he and friends rank the top 3 of a given thing each episode.  Check it out!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Killer7 OST: Masafumi Takada

Did you find that Killer7 was all that it was cracked up to be?  Do you have any idea what’s going on with the story?  Are there other Suda51 games that are worth playing?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can support the show monetarily on our Buy Me a Coffee Page.

System Shock 2 is considered by many to be the finest immersive sim ever made.  Released in 1999 in a coventure by Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games, it sought to combine the classic 3D dungeon crawling of the original with pen and paper inspired RPG systems.  While resource management and exploration were still a key part of the experience, you were now restricted in what you could initially do by those RPG stats - and it was only towards the end game that your character would feel truly strong.  Perhaps most obvious were the changes from the more abstract environments to something that felt real - this was a real place that had a disaster befall it, not just a series of rooms and corridors stapled together.

But are those things that were so revolutionary back in 1999 actually that impressive today?  Nowadays we have semi-spiritual successors like Bioshock which mimicked environmental storytelling.  We have Prey and Deus Ex with far more expansive RPG systems.  Has System Shock 2 stood the test of time, or does it even offer something unique, when compared to the games of the present?

On this episode we discuss:

Storytelling

How does System Shock 2 tell its story to the player?  Do its many audio logs combine into a complete and understandable narrative, or is it just a lot of standing still and being bored while a voice actor spouts nonsense at you?

Level Design

Does System Shock 2’s systems complement its level design, or get in its way?  Does the non-linearity of the levels represent the apex of the game, or are they just confusing messes?

RPG Systems

How well designed are the RPG aspects of System Shock 2?  Do they allow the player the creative expression to make a unique character that tackles problems in their own way?  How well do they work over the full runtime of the game?

We answer these questions and many more on the 120th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

System Shock 2 OST: Eric Brosius, Ramin Djawadi 

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RSD Mods for System Shock 2

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Is System Shock 2 still the best and brightest immersive sim, or has it been eclipsed by new games?  Should we finally play Deus Ex?  What other games in the genre are we yet to play and need to?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can support the show monetarily on our Buy Me a Coffee Page.

Over the years, we’ve played games from pretty much every genre under the sun, but there is one that is notably missing - the racing sim.  We’ve dabbled with arcade racers like Burnout 3, and have played several kart racers - Diddy Kong and F-Zero GX to name a couple.  But this is the first time we’re trying to learn how to actually drive a racing card under somewhat realistic conditions.

And what better game to start with than the highly lauded Gran Turismo 4?  It boasts hundreds of hours of gameplay, and you’d be hard pressed to find a racing sim fan who hasn’t at least heard of it.  There are an endless number of cars, tracks and conditions, and it's the kind of racing game that requires you to do tutorials on how to brake and turn simple corners before you get to the actual racing part.

So with all that in mind, just how good a video game is Gran Turismo 4?  What does it offer to someone who knows nothing about cars, and wants to go round a track really fast?  Is this a fun and engaging time, or is it a bland and dry simulator, for the ultra-enthusiasts only?

On this episode, we discuss:

Tutorials

• In what ways does GT4 attempt to teach the player the basics of learning to drive your car on the race track?  Does it do enough to explain the why or does it just focus on the how? 

Mechanics

• Just how fun is it to race around the tracks?  Does the difficulty of taking corners and controlling steering end up being frustrating and repetitive, or is there a kind of satisfaction to be found here?

Tuning and Upgrading

• GT4 features an incredible number of different cars to choose from, upgrade options for them, and a bevy of ways to tune them to perform in different ways.  How good is the game at delivering this information to the player so that they make informed choices?

We answer these questions and many more on the 119th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Gran Turismo 4 OST: Various Artists

Is Gran Turismo 4 the best racing sim of its era, or is there a better retro equivalent?  How have modern racing sims changed from the formulae of the original?  Are there any racing sims with a gentler learning curve when it comes to tuning your car?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can support us monetarily on our Buy me a Coffee page

Hitman: Blood Money, first released in 2006 by Eidos, is considered by many to be the best Hitman game ever made.  After the first few games played around with novel ideas and concepts to mixed success, Blood Money honed in on the formulae of specific, small and dense environments filled with ‘accidental’ scripted opportunities to murder your target.  Gone are the long and slow walking through the linear levels of Silent Assassin.  You no longer have the weird and confusing systems of Codename: 47, where you only sometimes had to think outside the box.  What we get here is a more focused experience - 12 playgrounds puzzle murders.

But in focusing on these specifics, has Blood Money left behind something meaningful from the previous games?  And while it built the groundwork for what the modern games would become, does it execute on it with the same finesse?  Has Hitman: Blood Money truly stood the test of time, or does it just play like an awkward middle child?

On this episode, we discuss:

Story

• Hitman: Blood Money is ostensibly a more gritty game than the first two - but is this actually the case?  Does the gameplay end up pushing the overall tone towards something less serious and slightly more goofy, or does the darker story portrayed in cutscenes keep it grounded?

Level Design

• How does the level design of Blood Money craft and guide the overall experience?  How does it use visual direction to create a sense of place, and does it compare favourably to the levels earlier in the series?

Execution(s)

• How enjoyable is it to discover and execute the various scripted deaths on every level?  Are these fun puzzles to figure out through trial and error, or does this lead to a sense of frustration as you wait around with no idea what to do?

We answer these questions and many more on the 118th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Hitman: Blood Money OST - Jesper Kyd

Is Hitman: Blood Money truly the best Hitman game?  Just how good are the modern hitman  games, should we play them?  What’s your favourite level?  

Come let us know what you think or recommend us a new game on our community discord server!

If you would like to support the show monetarily, you can buy us a coffee here!

Final Fantasy VII is a landmark title not only for the JRPG genre, but for all video games.  First released in 1997 and developed by Square, it took the format of the previous games and brought them to life with 3D models and environments.  Featuring an ambitious and creative setting, a complicated plot with intrigue and a seemingly deep and engaging combat system, the game seemed to be firing on all    cylinders.  Critics and fans alike adored the game to pieces, and even today there are legion's of players who will cite Final Fantasy VII as their favourite game of all time.

But how has time truly treated this once overwhelmingly impressive title?  Our ability to construct graphical setpieces goes far beyond what was possible in 1997.  Combat systems have come a long way, developed into something far more sophisticated.  And are the characteristics and story really as impressive as they were when the game first released? 
Has Final Fantasy VII truly stood the test of time?

On this week’s episode, we discuss:

• Final Fantasy VII’s cinematic set pieces fuse and random battles, cutscenes, in-game cutscenes, exploration, minigames and music in a continuous flow.  Is this a compelling way to do story telling, or does it just come across as quaint?
• The characters of Final Fantasy VII are notoriously underwritten, with their dialogue being just flat out bad and uninteresting, or is there something special lurking underneath?
• The combat present is a complicated mix of summons, magic, materia, mazes and random encounters. How does it all stack up when you put it all together?

We answer these questions and many, many more on the 117th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Intro Musicc: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Final Fantasy VII OST: Nobuo Uematsu

How did our thoughts on FF7 stack up to your own personal experience?  Is FF7 the best final fantasy game, or does it rank middle of the road?  What JRPG should we tackle next?  

Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

Support the show monetarily on our Buy me a Coffee Page!