Episode 133: Deus Ex: Invisible War

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross link up to talk about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

How do you follow up a masterpiece? Almost never with another masterpiece. Invisible War has some real problems, but taken on its own it's a perfectly competent shooter with some really great ideas and a fantastic reveal. Don't expect a game that redefines any genres, and you'll be fine.

Episode 132: Day of the Tentacle

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross experiment with Day of the Tentacle.

It's a time-hopping, interactive Looney Toon that's also LucasArts at the height of their powers... We revisit the world of Maniac Mansion to solve adventure game puzzles with the added twist of causality logic, visiting Colonial America and the distant, tentacle-run future.

Episode 131: Fallout: New Vegas (DLC)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross expound upon the many expansions for Fallout: New Vegas.

Here, in part three, we visit Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road, the four expansions released for Fallout: New Vegas in the year after the main game dropped. They're varied and diverse, but they contribute to a single overarching story in a way that most DLC packs just don't, really.

Episode 130: Fallout: New Vegas (Side Quests)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross indulge in the side quests of Fallout: New Vegas.

The Mojave wasteland has a wealth of things to do, and we try to cover them all. This episode covers all of the companion side quests, and then goes around to different factions and settlements to take care of errands for them, too.

Episode 129: Fallout New Vegas (Main Quests)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross take a gamble on Fallout: New Vegas.

Talking about Fallout 3 this previous winter really put a fire in us... Though we were underwhelmed by the Capital Wasteland in the moment, all roads led back to pining for the Mojave. So here we are, talking about Fallout: New Vegas, a triumph of video game writing and design, where player choice is emphasized and rewarded.

This first episode of a monthlong series hits on the main questlines of New Vegas, with an emphasis on the Yes Man and NCR lines, although we address all of the ways the story can resolve. Next week, we'll talk about the side quests.

Episode 128: Oregon Trail / Typing of the Dead

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross take Oregon Trail and Typing of the Dead to school (for show and tell).

Edutainment is, inherently, kind of lame. We can all smell a "message" coming a mile away. But the best examples can make you forget you're learning, and stand up as great games in their own right. So we've taken a ubiquitous classic of edutainment, Oregon Trail, and paired it with Typing of the Dead, a relic of Sega's weirdest days. And it turns out that sometimes, learning can be fun.