Book 2 of 2024: Transmetropolitan: Book One

Transmetropolitan: Book One

Author: Warren Ellis (Writer), Darick Robertson (Artist)

Genre: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk

Pages: No clue

Finished: Yes
Final Rating: 9/10

I know I'm about 25 years late to the party, but I finally got around to reading the first volume (issues 1-12) of Warren Ellis's classic transhumanist graphic novel, and you know what? It's pretty great and has aged surprisingly well.

Transmetropolitan follows Spider Jerusalem, a retired gonzo journalist in the mold of Hunter S. Thompson. Jerusalem is living in a mountain compound in self-imposed exile, having grown contemptuous of city life and all it represents. Mr. Jerusalem is something of an acquired taste, given his propensity for guns, drugs, and an almost zealous hatred of authority.

Jerusalem is called back from retirement by threat of lawsuit; see, he still owes his publisher two books and they are looking to collect. Having burned through the advance, he needs to move back to the city he hates to fulfill his obligation. He obviously needs money, so he takes a job as a journalist working for an old acquaintance. Book One follows the stories Jerusalem writes for the city paper, introducing the reader to the the City and it's diverse inhabitants while getting Jerusalem mixed up in political corruptness at the highest level.

For all his faults, Jerusalem is very, very good at what he does. He is always in the middle of the action, be it speeches by corrupt politicians or police brutality in the slums. He is the most contentious person alive, acrimonious impossible to get along with, hates dogs with a passion (wtf), but is never, ever boring and has a true gift for journalism and getting to the truth, no matter the danger to his well-being.

Also he makes the president shit himself with a bowel disruptor gun. No notes.

Game 5 of 2024: Home Safety Hotline

 Home Safety Hotline

Developer: Night Signal Entertainment
Publisher: Night Signal Entertainment
Platform: PC
Genre: Interactive Fiction/Horror

Difficulty: Easy
Hours: 2.5

Finished: Yes
Final Rating: 7.8/10

I love interactive fiction, but I am not crazy about horror. With a few exceptions, I don't really care for horror games, movies, books, whatever. Well, I am happy to report that I like Home Safety Hotline.

Another 90's computer simulator.

Really love that CRT filter they've got going on.

Much like Hypnospace Outlaw, Home Safety Hotline takes place in the 90's. It gives you a pretty authentic looking Windows 95 desktop and interface. Each day you log in and take calls from people who have strange occurrences that are outside the purview of the normal authorities. It's up to you to pull from your database of hazards, critters, and supernatural horrors and determine ails your caller. And hey, sometimes you get it wrong and they call you back to chew you out.

I've got one of these at my house.

While it doesn't have any jump scares (thank God), Home Safety Hotline packs in the creepiness. You get glimpses of office like through calls with your supervisor, Carol, and mysterious emails from an unhinged former colleague. The calls range from kinda funny to unsettling to downright horrifying. I really have to give Home Safety Hotline a lot of credit for not relying on a bunch of violence and gore for thrills; they give you just enough and let your imagination do the rest.

It's fairly short at maybe two or three hours and sure, it kind of drags here and there, but Home Safety Hotline is well worth an afternoon. 

Game 4 of 2023: Streets of Rogue

Streets of Rogue

Developer: Matt Dabrowski
Publisher: tinyBuild
Platform: PC
Genre: Action Roguelite

Difficulty: Moderate or Hard, really depends on your playstyle and class
Hours: 20 and counting

Finished: Yes, sort of
Final Rating: 9.7/10

hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooly shit is this fun

Damn, my GOTY in early February?!?!?! For some context, I don't always love the roguelike/roguelite genre. There are some exceptions, like Rogue Legacy, Tales of Maj'Eyal, Dwarf Fortress, and ADoM, but it's not usually a genre I usually enjoy. Well, I am pleased to announce that a roguelite is not only one of my favorite games I've played in the past year, but it's probably in my top 10 of all time.

Pure Joy

In Streets of Rogue, you are recruited to overthrow the mayor of a corrupt city arranged in floors for some reason. You start in the slums, and make your way up to the swanky uptown and finally the Mayor's Village. You have a variety of different classes to start with, like the Slum Dweller, Thief, and Hacker, and you can unlock a whole bunch more by completing objectives along the way. They all have unique playstyles, abilities and challenges, and it really allows you to play the game your way. For example, the Hacker might be a 90 pound weakling, but he can use his laptop to hack (and sometimes detonate) all kinds of stuff you find throughout each level. The Jock really packs a wallop when hitting enemies, but he refuses to use computers because that shit's for nerds.

See?

You can sneak around if you want, bribe cops if you want, make friends with cannibals, or just be a wanton killing machine. You can even make your own custom class if you feel like it. The objectives are usually pretty basic (neutralize this guy, rescue that guy, destroy that thing over there) and don't vary much per level, but there is multiple ways to accomplish each mission.

Honestly, the game this reminds me most of is Morrowind. Obviously the gameplay is completely different, but I got the same feeling. Like Morrowind, I felt like I was let loose in a world, free to complete my mission in whatever way I could, rules be damned.

...what's the hell's going on here?

Given it's diversity of characters, playstyles, and mutators (sort of like game modifiers), Streets of Rogue offers a ton of replayability. You can probably finish a run in an hour or two, providing you aren't killed along the way.

A simple pickpocket attempt on the Shopkeeper ended up with a shitload of dead cops.

 

Let's wrap this shit up real quick. Streets of Rogue is awesome and Streets of Rogue 2 is a day one purchase when it comes out later this year.