In episode 52, Shawn (GrayGhost81) and Rich (singlebanana) are joined by RF Generation Staff Writer and Monthly Movie Club host, Travis (zophar53) to discuss Bethesda's 2016 reboot of DOOM. Listen to the guys discuss their history with this classic franchise and find out how this this long-awaited title fares amongst its predecessors? Will this be the game that changes Rich's perception of first-person shooters? What "hidden gem" has Shawn been playing lately? And what strange happenings are afoot when the guys call upon the underworld in an attempt to record their diabolical podcast? The answer to these questions and may more in this episode of the RF Generation Playcast.
As always, we are happy to hear your thoughts on this game on our discussion page (linked below). We will respond to your comments and are always happy to discuss the game more. We hope you enjoy our show. Please be sure to rate and write a review of the show on iTunes to help us increase our listenership. Thanks for the listen!
Back in 2006, a game known as Prey was released for the Xbox 360 and PC. While it was met with positive critical reception, it has been mostly forgotten about over the 10 years since its release. Truth be told, I rented Prey back when it first came out, but I was very hasty to decide that I didn't like it and returned the game without investing much time into it. I have always wanted to go back and give the game a proper try since it contains some unique gameplay mechanics, but I have never owned a copy and likely wouldn't have gotten around to it even if I did.
Fast forward to June 2016, a reboot of Prey was shown at E3, and I was immediately intrigued by the trailer. It instantly reminded me of the original Half-Life, one of my all-time favorite games. It also contained glimpses of some very interesting gameplay mechanics that I was excited to experience for myself. Since this new game is not a proper sequel to the original, I had no qualms about jumping right in without playing the original. Make no mistake about it, this new Prey has virtually nothing in common with the original Prey from 2006, save for the name and a general sci-fi theme.
The original Doom that was released back in 1993 was an extremely important landmark title in gaming. While not necessarily the first first-person-shooter to hit the market, it was definitely the game that popularized the genre. I have fond memories of playing Doom sometime back in the mid-90s on PC when I was less than the age of 10, with its gameplay and (at the time) mature content being unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Although the version I had only contained the first episode, I played through it multiple times, and it is still a game that I find myself going back to even today. After the Wolfenstein series got a great new entry with MachineGames' excellent Wolfenstein: The New Order, I was confident that id's other classic franchise would receive the same treatment when a new game in the Doom series, simply titled Doom, was shown at E3 2015. I was not disappointed. In fact, even after playing other highly acclaimed games from 2016 such as Uncharted 4 and Final Fantasy XV, I still feel like I enjoyed Doom enough to call it my Game of the Year for 2016.
Most people know that I am a huge fan of the survival-horror genre, particularly the Resident Evil series, so I was immediately intrigued when The Evil Within was announced back in 2013. This was a brand new survival-horror IP directed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, and it promised to bring the genre back to its survival roots rather than the action-oriented approach of more recent horror games. While I still enjoyed more recent horror titles that have been given the label of 'action-horror,' the prospect of a modern title that recaptures what made the old-school games so unique and interesting was exactly what survival-horror fans had been hoping for.
I'm sorry (not so sorry) to say that what you are about to hear is not the Illuision of Gaia playthrough podcast that you might have been anticipating. No worries though, that will be available for your listening pleasure in just a few more days. In the meantime, we hope that you enjoy this special recording that the guys and I did for E3 2016. After watching the pressers and some of the trailers surrounding this year's event, the guys and I kept going back and forth texting about games and other things that interested us about the event. Finally, we just decided, why not just set a time, switch on the mics, and talk candidly about our experience and the releases that we are looking forward to? We sincerely hope that you enjoy our take on the event and items presented over that week, and if feedback is positive, we may consider more sidecasts like this in the future. Thanks for listening!
Please be sure to subscribe to our feed through one of our media outlets so that you automatically get our new episodes on release. And as always, be sure to rate and write a review of the show on iTunes to help us increase our listenership.
When the new DOOM was revealed at E3 last year, I was not remotely interested in playing it. It looked like just another first-person shooter that seemed to be gory for no good reason. I had limited experience with the original games - I'm more of the Wolfenstein girl - so the nostalgia factor wasn't even there. Pass.
However...
Once the game released and rave reviews started coming out, I thought maybe it would be worth a look. Boy, am I glad I gave it a chance. DOOM is some of the most fun I've had with a game in a long time. The pace is relentless, the combat is satisfying, and the level design is fantastic! By going back to basics and skipping mechanics like cover, regenerating health, and having to reload your gun, id Software produced a game that feels fresh.
I was really excited to make this review and found myself writing it in my head as I played the game. Give it a watch if you want to hear some more about DOOM.
