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Flippersmack Issue 08
ÿÿO=
ÿ/) FLIPPERSMACK 008
ÿ`= culturemag for a penguin generation
http://www.flippersmack.com
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Self-imposed deadlines suck ;) I told myself that I would get
penguinpalace.com finished by June 1.. that didn't happen. There's some
content up; it's not pretty. Oh well. Haven't slept much since the last issue
at all. I've been walking a living daze of code red, adrenalin, and bubblegum
soda.
Flippersmack Archives:
http://www.penguinpalace.com/
http://www.nettwerked.net/
http://www.ghu.ca/
tABLE oF cONTENTS
*FRESH* Pre-Scavenger Hunt Clue #2 .................Flippersmack
Straight Til Morning....................................Pinguino
Zone of Enders (PS2 Review).............................Bob Lull
Clive Barker's Undying (PC Game)........................Bob Lull
FRESH articles were written day of zine release- June 1, 2001
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PRE-HUNT CLUE #002!!!!
The Red Avenger made this clue for you guys:
http://arrakis.tamu.edu/dlong/
Thanks to p1asm1c for the original tech pic. http://www.cpj.f2s.com/
Artwork by pinguino =)
-.x.x.x.-
Straight Til Morning
by pinguino [pinguino@comicartist.com]
Somehow I ended up in the Bay Area last weekend; red-eyed and cracked out, I
drove up with Slapayoda and Far Call from Southern California. We showed up at
Skully's (Sysfail member) doorstep at 5am and staggered into his computer room
to sleep.
After a few hours, we woke up and went to Comic Relief in Berkeley. Comic
Relief is one of my favorite comic book stores in Northern California. They
have zines and lots of independent comics. They also carry more graphic novels
than most other comic book stores. Fun place near Telegraph, by the college. I
bought a copy of Jeff Smith's new book, "Rose."
We had coffee at a place down the street and drove over to Barkode's house
(Sysfail). We woke his ass outta bed and meandered over to a Mongolian
restaurant. Asphyxia joined us for a bit, which was really cool. Yeah. My
friends don't have real names =)
Long-time friends of mine from Seattle were in town: XBS, Data Angel, and
Cyben. XBS was one of Penguin Palace's earliest fans and responsible for our
global expansion into Kuwait when Tori Do was being distributed. We got to
hang out with them in Old Sacramento, Yay!@#
Slapayoda, Skully, and I headed back to Oakland to get ready for nighttime
activities. We spent forever trying to find something to do, and found an
obscure listing in ravelinks on a messageboard:
"Hey NRG freaks! Morgan, DJ-D, Kemical Kidd, Catch 22, Paul the Fanman, more!
Straight on 'til Morning. Tonight, 5/26, 9pm. $15 at Skills, F8. $18 at the
door. 877-629-2668. Call now for directions to the venue."
Posted on May 26, 2001 at 09:29:49 PM by Dan
I'd heard of Catch 22, so we decided to go. The venue was in downtown Oakland
on Webster; easy to find. Infoline directions made sense. Dunno who the
promotion crew was; this seemed to be their first party. They took over a
small club; mellow trance downstairs and everything else upstairs.
It was reallly hot upstairs; no ventillation. They had a really cool effect
that would be easy to implement for any party though. Mesh was strung along
the top of the ceiling, with a handful of 4ft blacklight bars tied to beams in
the ceiling. Puffs of cotton stuffing (used for pillows and toys, available at
Micheals and Jo Ann Crafts) rested on top of the mesh. This gave the ceiling
an intersting cloud-like effect.
Kemical Kid, Catch 22, and Morgan were all pretty good, and highly
dance-worthy. The party was totally worth going to. Fuses blew in the middle
of (Kemical Kid's set?) but the issue was resolved within 10 mins. If i
remember correctly, Morgan was downstairs tag-teaming with someone; they spun
for over 2 hours. They played Dune in the middle of their set and I was
completely in heaven.
Data Angel videotaped a lot of the party, and once the tape's edited I'll link
to it from the flippersmack page. Raving with them was a lot of fun =)
The next day, we woke up and the Seattle people had left already. Skully,
Slapayoda, Pinky, BogusGirl, and jb went to the Exploratorium in San
Fransisco. It's a hands-on Science Center; the biggest and most interesting
one I've been to. They have an exhibit called the Tactile Dome that opens up
an hour and a half after the museum closes.
The Tactile Dome is one of the coolest things I've ever done. It's a giant
dome crammed with claustrophobic tunnels lined with different textures. Inside
is pitch black. You're on a mission to find the hidden random objects; you go
in pairs or in threes and find your way through the tunnels. It's something
that really can't be described, and should be experienced. I highly recommend
it!
-.x.x.x.-
Zone of Enders (PS2 Review)
by Bob Lull [r_lull@hotmail.com]
Graphics 18/20 - Stunning. A real show of what the PS2 can do.
Sound/Music 17/20 - Good effects and nice Electronic style of music
Gameplay 24/30 - Fast and furious. Single player gets old fast, but
multiplayer is extremely fun. Easy to get into.
Ingenuity 16/20 - Finally a game with mechs that move faster than glaciers.
Still just a combat game though.
Ending 4/20 - The first player ending can be pretty much defined under the
dictionary as ANTI-CLOSURE.
Ah yes, it is so sweet when you find yourself sitting in your room, avoiding
the sun like a vampire, slurping on your fifth coke, and wearing your thumbs
raw on a game that you just can't put down. "One more game," you croak, as
you take a bite of cold pizza, "One more, and then I swear I'll go get some
exercise!" And then you smile to yourself, because you know you're a filthy
liar. Zone of Enders may not fit this description entirely - at least not the
single-player game - but when you're with a friend or two, this game could
delay your plans of getting in shape for a few weeks.
A band of space pirates is attempting to steal a special class of mech on a
remote planet colony, and will stop at nothing to get it. This pirate band
consists of a handful of expert mech pilots, and an army of mech-drones. The
pirates plan on acquiring the prototype mech by creating chaos on the planet,
and swiping the mech in the confusion. The colony must be protected, and
everything rests in the shaky hands of a 12-year-old boy, who stumbles into a
Jehuty-class mech, and the Jehuty's onboard intelligence, called 'ADA'.
Pretty pretty pretty. That's what you'll say when you've destroyed your first
robot. This is what the PS2 was designed to do well. Though most of the
colors in this game consist of dark-blue and black, they may be the prettiest
dark-blue and black I have ever seen. Weapons and explosion graphics are
vivid and powerful. The character and boss details are smart and sharp, and
most of the areas you fight in - though little more than pretty arenas - have
plenty of good looking buildings and structures that really make you feel as
though you are fighting above an evacuated city. The only serious problem
with the enemies is that there are only about 4 or five different types to
fight throughout the entire game - with the exception of the occasional boss
character. Most of the bosses are impressively huge. Their size is readily
apparent, as the designers did a great job of scaling everything in the game.
As most of the weapons in this game are expectedly energy-based, you'll hear
your fair share of pulse-and-zap-type sounds, but for a game that consists of
a lot of metal robots trying to tear each other into scrap, there's scant
sounds of clanking or thumping or scraping of metal. The soundtrack is all
electronica, and varies enough to not get annoying, but you'll hardly be
paying attention to the music, as you will be too busy dodging enemy fire, or
flinging some poor soul into a building, Godzilla-style.
If you've ever watch any Anime involving giant killer Mechs, then the gameplay
in ZOE will be instantly familiar. The lightning fast robots, the missile
swarms, the impressive displays of power, it's all here. It's all beautiful.
It's all fun. Your poor thumbs will never be the same. The game is
definately designed to make you sit on the edge of your seat. Your Jehuty
comes equipped with a standard energy shot, a close and distant range dash
attack, as well as a burst attack. Also, you can move in any direction -
quickly. Does your enemy like to hide behind his force-field? Use either a
burst attack, or throw his cowardly ass into the nearest convenient building.
The game utilizes a "Lock-on" method of attacking your foes, and you may
switch between different enemies, or remove your lock completly to escape.
Aside from your main weapons, you can pick up hardware and software for some
"special" weapons, but most of them are completely useless. You don't even
have access to them when playing 2-player. And speaking of 2-player, it's one
of the best reasons to get this game. I bought it, but I would recommend to
anyone to rent this game first, as the Single-player mode is not quite as
fun. It's not bad, but the gameplay changes little throughout the entire
length of play, and the ending will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.
I don't want to give it away, but it's not the happiest ending I've ever seen,
if you get my drift.
This game is also amazingly easy to get into. I had thought of myself as
pretty competent with my Jehuty, but then I brought my game over to a friends
who had never played it, and got myself slaughtered repeatedly.
This game is a nice breath of fresh air, and stays fun for quite a while. It
may not be the deepest in story or variety, but it's one hell of a ride while
it lasts. Oh yeah, and the demo of Metal Gear: Solid Snake 2 isn't bad either
;-)
-.x.x.x.-
Clive Barker's Undying (PC Game)
by Bob Lull [r_lull@hotmail.com]
Graphics 19/20 - Well done. Excellent detail on the house and Oneiros.
Monsters are well modeled and detailed. Colors fit the
horror setting. The Family is spooky and well animated.
Blood effects cool. All cutscenes are done in-engine, and
are beautiful. Some animations can be a little stiff, but not
much.
Sound 20/20 - One word: SPOOKY! The the atmosphere of the game experience is
easily doubled by sound. Bullets reloading, distant howling of
howlers. Wind, rain, lightning sounds throughout the game.
Gameplay 27/30 - Fun fun fun. Save anywhere. Weapons conventional fare, Enemies
aren't really varied enough. Weapon in one hand, magic in
another = cool. Most quests involve find door, get key/item
for door, move on to next door. Lights unexpectedly go out to
create a panic play. Enemies are faster than you, which is
frightening, but sometimes frustrating.
Replay value 13/20 - Game is totally linear, 3 difficulty settings. Thats i.
Ending 6/10 - Standard "Buy the sequel!" predictable ending
total: 85% - A good game that doesn't bring any ingenuity to the table, but
it's a great ride, and will definately scare the crap out of you.
Clive Barker brings his phantasmical skills to bear in this first person
shooter/horror/mystery, and believe me, this game is a great way to start.
In Undying, you play the role of Patrick Galloway, a man with the ability
to solve people's unfortunate problems with the supernatural. When Galloway
receives a letter from Jeremiah Covenant, an old war buddy, he rushes to aid.
It seems that an old family secret involving Jeremiah and all four of his
undead siblings is threatening the lives of Galloway's pal and all of the
servants of the household. Jeremiah's health and spirit have waned, and he
cannot continue his persuit of resolving the family curse on his own. The
sickly man has found himself in constant danger from his brothers and sisters,
who don't seem to want to stay dead. Enter Galloway, a gallant Irishman,
returning home to set things right with Gel'Ziabar stone - a token from a
fallen shaman in Galloway's past - in one hand, and a plethora of handy spells
in the other.
This game is intriguing and spooky from the first moment you click the
start button. Of course, the Covenant family lives in a large... scratch
that, HUGE forboding mansion in the mid 1820's (C'mon, you had to expect that.
How much fun would it be to explore a haunted 2-bedroom appartment in 1994?).
From the moment you step through the giant mohogany doorway, you are taunted
by the spectres of the unresting Covenants. Not only do you get to explore
the mazelike halls, galleries, kitchens, wardrobes and even worship rooms of
the mansion, but you will also be transported to various times and dimensions,
such as the chaotic, red-skyed Oneiros.
What about the graphics, you say? Easy. Pure. Eye. Candy. As you walk
through the halls, you'll swear you're looking real oak, real curtains, real
fires in the fireplaces, and real 3-foot monsters with razor sharp claws.
Unfortunately, there isn't a very large variety of monsters to deal with, but
the monsters you do fight, are well detailed and animated. The servants of
the household move with haunted resignation, each with convincing movement.
Galloway has the power to call up a spiritual light, that not only is
handy for lighting up dark corridors, but can show our fighting Irishman
glimpses from the past which can help him solve the mystery. Around almost
every corner, you are bid to "seeeee" or "scryyyyyyeee" by the little voice in
your head. As I said before, some of these instances help you to move along
in the game, but most of them are just interesting little plot devices, or
scary moments that will make you want to turn the lights back on (but don't
you dare, you pansy!). Whatever the case, it's always fun to "looook
aaarrroouunnnd"....
The only real low spots to this game include an extremely linear
storyline, and a completely crap ending. Of course this game is one case
where the journey means volumes more than the destination. This is definately
one to plunk the cash on, if you enjoy a good, frightening jump with your
first-person-shooters.
-.x.x.x.-
Flippersmack (c) 2001 Flippersmack All Rights Reserved.
Greetz out to Slapayoda, one of the coolest guys I know => -pg
