I forgot how much I enjoy Housemarque games · 3:31am Oct 26th, 2022
So, the internet at my current place is… not great. There appears to be some sort of network bottleneck (go f**k yourself Comcast), to the point that if I play any games that require online connection, I end up getting booted regularly and at random. So, I dug into my library and pulled out a bunch of Housemarque games that I used to play (Resogun, Super Stardust Ultra, Alienation, Dead Nation, Nex Machina, etc). And Gaia, did I forget just how good they are. Sure, they're not giant, overblown productions like a God of War or a Halo, but they're solid, fun, and easy to pick up and put down when I feel like taking a break from the job application stuff.
Really, this studio is such a gem, and I wish they got more of the recognition that they deserve. Because when it comes down to it, sure, the games don't have the scale of the AAA stuff, but they're fun, fast paced, and just a joy to play. And considering they have leaderboards, people with a competitive streak can enjoy trying to climb to the top. With everything going on all around us these days, I think just having something that can bring you some small amount of joy is so vital.
The only Housemarque game I've ever played has been Returnal, but damn is that a good first impression. Almost justifies the purchase of a PS5 by itself.
Almost.
5694593
I don't know if the PS4 games have back-compat on PS5, but if they do, I'd recommend trying out some of their other games. They're mostly isometric twin-stick shooters.
Yeah, welcome to the suck that is Xfinity.
Bit of advice, for a way around some (if not all) of their throttling: buy your own equipment —modem and router/wifi hub. Not only do you save on “rental fees” but they cant throttle the connection at the modem itself. As a former MMO player, and fan of streaming movies/tv, in a house with two gamers and two old people who adore streaming services, trust me, it helps more than I can articulate with the bogus throttling.
(We just had to replace ours after about 6 years, and it cost us about $200 for the Arris Surfboard (SB6190), the google wifi (white hockey puck looking thing), and the LAN splitter for our hardlines.)
Ditched both spectrum and comcast for Google fiber. So far no speed or connection problems. I get you. Sometimes when I need to decompress or need to do something else I put on an old game. Usually mass effect or dragon age because I can play the crap out of those over and over again.
5694649
Sadly, the place I'm staying at is something of a boarding house, so I can't exactly go and get a replacement modem/router, since the account's not mine.
5694667
Unfortunately, I can't get any sort of fiber based interent in the neighborhood I'm living in, since the fiber-optic lines haven't been laid down yet, so I'm stuck with cable internet for the time being. Or rather, the house is stuck with it, since I'm basically living in a boarding house at the moment.