The History of Player Characters: 1970s - Part 1

This week on Super Adventures, I'm doing research!

Everyone knows about '90s video game heroes like Leon S. Kennedy and Lara Croft, and '80s heroes like Mario and Samus Aran haven't entirely slipped into obscurity yet. So what happened to all the '70s heroes? Why have I never heard about the stars of the Magnavox Odyssey and Fairchild Channel F? Home consoles and arcade cabinets began to appear at the very start of the decade and computer games had been around even longer, so there's a whole era of video games I somehow know next to nothing about.

Fortunately it turns out that sites like Hardcore Gaming 101 and YouTube channels like DrAmazing are full of useful information for me to study, and arcade-museum.com has an archive of arcade flyers. In fact "Critical Kate" Willært's 50-part Video Dames series on female video game heroes seemed like it was going to do half my job for me, so I was a bit disappointed when I found it had been cancelled (edit: horribly sidetracked) after part two. I would've have watched all 50 videos!

I'll be going from 1971 to 1979, tracking down the lost icons of video games one year at a time. Plus these games are all so early that I'll have plenty of ancient video game history to write about too.

Metro: Last Light Redux (PC)

Developer:

4A Games

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Release Date:

2014 (Original 2013)

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Systems:

Win, PS4, Xbone, Stadia, Switch (Original: Win, PS3, X360)

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This week on Super Adventures, I've got the same problem I had last week when I wrote about Metro 2033 Redux, except worse. Metro: Last Light Redux has also gotten a free next-gen graphics update and this time it's already out so I'm showing off an outdated release. If I'd known it was coming I would've either played the game later or published this sooner.

I actually played this right after finishing Metro 2033, so that the gameplay would be fresh in my mind and I could compare them. Though I wasn't entirely hyped about the idea as I'd been hiking through claustrophobic rail tunnels in the dark for 15 hours so far. The game's got that BioShock 2 problem, where players have already thoroughly explored the setting and seen everything. An art deco metropolis on the ocean floor is only a novelty once, and decaying train stations aren't even all that impressive the first time around. Even if the lighting is pretty sometimes.

They can't even blame it on the novel, as this time the game wasn't based on a book. Though Metro 2033 author Dmitry Glukhovsky did write the story outline and the dialogue, so it's about as legit as you can get.

Okay, I'm going to show off a decent amount of the game, though I'm going to be vague about things to avoid spoiling the story too much (and to keep it to just one part). This will have big SPOILERS for Metro 2033 however.

Metro 2033 Redux (PC)

Developer:

4A Games

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Release Date:

2014 (Original: 2010)

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Systems:

Win, Xbone, PS4, Stadia, Switch, macOS, Linux (Original: Win, X360)

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Metro 2033 is getting a free next-gen update tomorrow with higher-quality lighting, more environmental detail, 4K textures... all kinds of stuff. Though I didn't learn about this until after I'd played and written about the game. Whoops.

So this week on Super Adventures, I'll be checking out the 2014 Redux version of post-apocalyptic first-person shooter Metro 2033, by Ukrainian developer 4A Games. This was their very first game, though a bunch of them had worked on S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, so they had a bit of experience. It was based on journalist Dmitry Glukhovsky's novel of the same name, but it was his very first book, so you don't have to read the other 2,032 Metro novels to understand what's going on.

Metro 2033 originally came out for Windows and Xbox 360 and that's it. That wasn't much fun for the PlayStation and Nintendo owners who wanted to go get mauled in a spooky cold subway tunnel too, but their turn eventually came around when the game got a reworked Redux re-release. Funny thing is, Redux was released in 2014, one year after the calamity in the backstory that left the world in ruins, so it had become an alternate history story in the meantime. Though, as the title indicates, the action takes place in 2033. Wow, if I'd just waited seven more years I could've published this on the actual date. I really did play the game too early.

I was kind of eager to finally try this and also dreading it, as I'd heard that it's harsh and challenging, and I'd played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. so I could believe it. Even typing in "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." is arduous, that's how uncompromising that game is. But I'd been replaying some Half-Life 2 and it got me in the mood for an hour or two of post-apocalyptic shooting, so I decided to finally pull the trigger.

Dungeons & Dragons Games Vol. 35: Gold Box - Buck Rogers XXVc: Matrix Cubed (MS-DOS) - Part 2

This week on Super Adventures, I just need to play a few more hours of Matrix Cubed before I can be satisfied that I know how it plays. They could've made any kind of Buck Rogers XXVc game they wanted, they could've made this a platformer or a shoot 'em up and I could've been done with it in 20 minutes, but no, they had to make it a massive RPG and give me all this extra work!

Also, Matrix Cubed is a terrible title in my opinion. The Matrix is a good name for a sci-fi movie, Cube is a good name for an indie sci-fi thriller, but stick them together and it's just meaningless. Worse, it isn't evocative; it doesn't make you imagine the threat you're fighting or the places you'll visit. And that text looks bad.

I'm not claiming I could do any better though. Based on my track record, I'd end up calling it Buck Rogers' Super Sci-Fi Adventure or something. 

This is the second and final part. If you want to check out PART ONE, click the text. If you want SPOILERS, then just keep reading.

Dungeons & Dragons Games Vol. 34: Gold Box - Buck Rogers XXVc: Matrix Cubed (MS-DOS) - Part 1

Developer:

SSI

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Release Date:

1992

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Systems:

DOS

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing Buck Rogers XXVc: Matrix Cubed - Science Fiction Role-Playing Game, Vol II, for MS-DOS. It's nice to get back to science fiction for a bit. I like fantasy, but sci-fi's where my heart is.

DOS has its moments too, especially now that I'm in the VGA/Sound Blaster era, though it's a shame that the game was entirely bound to it. Volume I came out for C64, Amiga and even the Mega Drive/Genesis, but this is DOS exclusive.

This is the second and last of the Buck Rogers XXVc Gold Box RPGs made by Strategic Simulations Inc., though the theme music makes it sound like it should be a Wing Commander game. It wasn't a huge shock when I saw Wing Commander composer The Fat Man credited (along with Ralph Thomas), and I won't be surprised if this is all the music I get either. I've already played a few Gold Box games at this point, in fact I've played almost all of them, so I know what they're like.

If you're wondering why I've labelled a Buck Rogers game as "Dungeons & Dragons", it's because it's based on a tabletop game by D&D publisher TSR, it's made by D&D video game developer SSI, and it runs on the Gold Box D&D engine, so I'm including it as a special bonus to finish off my articles on the first decade of D&D video games: 1982-1991. Even though it came out in 1992.

As usual I've no plans to finish the game, but I'll play it for long enough for there to be SPOILERS, probably, so be aware of what you're getting into.

Dungeons & Dragons Games Vol. 33: Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon (MS-DOS) - Part 4

You're reading Super Adventures and I'm playing Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon. Not for much longer though.

This is part 4 of this epic 4-part saga, but if you'd rather read PART 1, PART 2 or PART 3, then click the text.

This is also part 33 of my attempt to play the first 10 years of Dungeons & Dragons video games, spanning 1982 to 1991. Hang on, this is the last game of 1991. That means I've done it, I've played everything on the list! It's over!

It's a bit of an awkward place to end things though, seeing as there's still another Eye of the Beholder game left to play, along with a bunch of Gold Box RPGs. On the plus side, Eye of the Beholder III apparently sucks, so maybe it'll work out for the best if I quit while I'm ahead.

SPOILER WARNING: whatever happens, you're going to know about it.

Dungeons & Dragons Games Vol. 32: Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon (MS-DOS) - Part 3

This week on Super Adventures, it's been pretty much nothing but Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon. Version 1.1, apparently.

You're reading part 3 of 4, but if you'd prefer to be reading PART 1 or PART 2, then those links will get you where you want to be.

Here's a bit of insight into how bad I am at estimating how much I'll end up writing about a game: I was originally going to cover Eye of the Beholder in one article. I mean the Eye of the Beholder series, all three games, on the same page. I had the layout in place and I figured that 10 screenshots each would be enough. Turns out that 100 would've been a better guess.

Anyway, there's barely any story in the game, but I'll put a SPOILER warning here anyway just to be safe. Maybe I'll end up spoiling a puzzle for you or something.