Recent reviews by Mush Man

The Quake series has a legendary legacy, but games have changed so much since it was at the top of the industry. Heck, I was too young and almost totally unaware of PC gaming when it was in its prime. In a way, it's not surprising that many don't really know about Quake anymore, or have just forgotten about it. Nevertheless, its age and decreased popularity hasn't stopped it being one of the most fun and skillful multiplayer first person shooters ever.

Quake Live is an updated version of Quake 3 Arena, origially released in 1999. Its hallmarks are fast movement, great array of game types, diverse-functioning weapony, huge collection of maps, deep customisation and that classic kleptomanic video game logic that drives you to pick up every big, shiny, spinning, colourful item you see. Those pickups are really important too because in most modes, everyone starts off with almost nothing, so get prepared for the fight ahead!

There's nothing to bog down its pure and simple design either. Quake doesn't obsess about its characters, distract you with in-game stores where you can dress up your player model like a doll, charge extra for content or flair, offer artificial rewards, give players advantages over each other or have any cheap, unfair, exploitable tricks. It's all about the people you meet and the stuff that happens in your games. Just pick a match from the server browser that has some players and you're ready to go! It's a pity so many games tie themselves up with that other junk.

I started playing Quake Live before I created my account on Steam, back when it was free and ran in your browser. My old account accumulated hundreds of hours over the years on top of what's recorded here. While this doesn't compare to those who've been playing Quake for about a decade before that, I quickly learnt why they never put it down.

Take that as glowing praise, but it has one unfortunate problem. Those players are masters; they have a level of skill that's ruthless to compete with. Don't get me wrong, I have a heap of respect for them, I just wish I was anywhere as good! This coupled with the low population means you'll probably have a tough time. Some people irreverently compare it to chess, but there's some seriously incredible strategy and expertise to back that up. (Professional games are actually reasonably easy to watch and understand, even if you don't have as much experience.)

Don't let that discourage you too much though. Quake Live has one of the most friendly communities across any game I've played. They're the old guard. They're passionate. They play for the love of the game. I remember one time I was in a race server on the strafe-jumping challenge map and someone helped me improve my circle-jumping technique (an advanced movement ability) so I could complete the last obstacle with greater consistancy.

Experiences like that stick with you. As do the ones where you play really well or meet great opponents. I have a lot of good memories from this game, and am still having awesome moments. Hopefully the upcoming Quake Champions revives interest in arena shooters like this. They're brilliant.

While I didn't pay for Quake Live because I downloaded it while it was still free-to-play, I've bought four gift copies for friends so far, and will probably keep buying it for more in the future. It's definitely worth the price, and a total ball with mates.

Give it a shot. I reckon you'll like it.

This release of the Half-Life soundtrack contains all tracks present in the game endoced into MP3 at 320 kbps with a 44.1 KHz sample rate in Stereo. This is, by far, higher quality than the audio you will hear from Half-Life in-game, as that is encoded as MP3 at 48 kbps with a 22.05 KHz sample rate in Stereo. The only higher quality release than this was the original Red Book CD Audio that was present on Half-Life's retail disc, considering that it is uncompressed Stereo PCM at 44.1 KHz.

It is worth noting that this release does not include two versions of tracks that were present on the Red Book CD Audio of the 1997 press alpha. The Steam Half-Life 2 soundtrack release (which is a digital release of The Soundtrack of Half-Life 2 sold with the Gold edition of Half-Life 2 and formerly on the Valve Store) contains tracks which were unused, present in development versions of the game and press demos, and remixed. Some may consider the soundtrack incomplete without these tracks.

Unfortunately, almost all tracks have static lasting around a tenth of a second before they end. This unintentional artifact is present when played by any media player or audio editing software. The only exception is Track 27 Sharp Fear Short.

Album artwork is included as a seperate file, but is not included in the ID3 information for the tracks. While this means that each track has a lower filesize, attaching it to each file is the only reliable way to ensure that the album art always displays. The included artwork can be added manually, but this requires user action.

Outside of the game, the Half-Life soundtrack has a good mix of ambient and action music to listen to.

Despite its flaws, this is an overall decent soundtrack release.

You mightn't think much of this game because it's a "realistic" shooter, but it is honestly a whole lot of fun. You can play Counter-Strike to chill out or you can team up and strategise. If you're worried about the playerbase, they are actually quite laid back. It's brtual at times, but when you play well, you really feel it. Give it a shot!

How do you turn a video game from being just entertainment, into an experience? Whatever the answer, Bastion nails it.

Rather than being just a clever hack 'n' slash, run 'n' gun game, Bastion kicks it up a notch with an amazing soundtrack and a brilliantly written narrative. The story never stops the gameplay: it's delivered as you play, commenting on how well you're doing as you go. You'll lose yourself in the experience.

If you like what you hear, watch the trailer. Now imagine that trailer for the rest of the game.

An excellent platformer that reminds you that solid game design can make any familiar concept fresh and fun again. Super Meat Boy has plenty of levels to complete and online leaderboards too which is pretty neat. Keep in mind some levels are a bit ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, but beating them warrents its own kind of satisfaction.

An excellent free arcade racer. Very simple comtrols but very broad physics and possibilities for tracks! It even comes with a track editor. Very fun and very addictive!

A pretty chill music puzzle game. It's really classy. Also it has online leaderboards which is pretty neat.

Ten million zombies versus you and your friends? They're gonna need more zombies.

More weapons, more special infected, more campaigns, totally worth it.

Shooting zombies is pretty awesome, but shooting zombies with your friends in co-op is _damn_ awesome.