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PA Comic: Monday, February 27th - Further Deviations

StericaSterica YesRegistered User, Moderator mod
edited February 2012 in The Penny Arcade Hub
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Gabriel has told me that Little Deviants is very, very bad. He hasn’t told me why, and only shivers at the mention of it, so I’m not saying you should invest this assessment with great import or something. He did, however, discover a novel input methodology. I have coined the term “Rear Stylus,” and I am offering it for use royalty-free.

I was gone when it would have been relevant, but I’ve played through Syndicate. How is it (pretend that you don’t know)? An earlier iteration of myself might have called the single player campaign “retarded.”

In 2012, an era of diplomacy and grace, I might call it concussed. This is more robust, anyway: it describes a state of such profound head trauma that confusion and even unconsciousness are the result. In a time where Deus Ex: Human Revolution did not occupy some portion of our media consciousness, or that the original Syndicate had never existed, this new one would just be dumb. In a time where DE’s sharp script and transhuman themes are still present and actively pulsing, it’s almost unconscionable. Unlockable journal entries and the introduction itself reveal that clever writers were in the vicinity. What happened?

Until a game is released, it is many, many games. I’ve seen this happen with my own erect, greasy eyestalks. This is part of the reason Day One DLC isn’t something I get up about; what we call “the game” was probably done a long time ago. I wonder at what point this Syndicate became “Syndicate,” brand scion; the solo portion is pure fondant, it’s all structure with a vague, nominal sweetness.

The campaign has a few visionary moments, times where its spartan environments seem elevated to the ideal of Homogenous Corporate Sterility as opposed to simply plain. There are overwhelming fights where your suite of “App” powers flow into one another, and you get a sense of the good game they might have made instead.

The multiplayer invests that loose jumble with a clean matrix of startling, platinum wire. Every weapon, every ability, and your character itself become research trees. Missions generate currencies. The weapons themselves are thoughtful and (generally) pragmatic in their construction, and communicate their weight and power. You’ll be eaten alive if you don’t play together. I loved it in the demo, and it only gets better.

Which of these games came first? They have no business being on the same physical platter; If I were to leave it out on the counter overnight, I expect that in the morning I would see two half-sized discs. Was the single player campaign created as the “ballast” for a Triple A retail release, or was this multiplayer the result of some strange alchemy performed on the existing assets?

(CW)TB out.

this is for right now

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Sterica on

Posts

  • GaslightGaslight Registered User regular
    Goddammit.

  • Caulk Bite 6Caulk Bite 6 One of the multitude of Dans infesting this place Registered User regular
    First I chuckled. Then I wondered why Gabes toilet has armrests.

    Then I started wondering why all toilets don't have armrests.

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  • Caulk Bite 6Caulk Bite 6 One of the multitude of Dans infesting this place Registered User regular
    Oh wait, the Vita has a touch screen on the back.

    I'm dumb.

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  • AurichAurich ArizonaRegistered User regular
    Oh wait, the Vita has a touch screen on the back.

    I'm dumb.

    Be relived that it couldn't have occurred to you quicker.

    The really remarkable shit is that I don't know what game that is, but I have learned something about its gameplay from this comic.

  • AiouaAioua Ora Occidens Ora OptimaRegistered User regular
    You know, Caulk, I was perfectly fine with how my brain simply ignored the fact that gabe had no pants. But, no, you had to point it out. Now I'll never unsee it.

    life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
    fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
    that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
    bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
  • Caulk Bite 6Caulk Bite 6 One of the multitude of Dans infesting this place Registered User regular
    edited February 2012
    Aioua wrote: »
    You know, Caulk, I was perfectly fine with how my brain simply ignored the fact that gabe had no pants. But, no, you had to point it out. Now I'll never unsee it.

    My work here is done.

    Caulk Bite 6 on
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  • LadaiLadai Registered User regular
    First I chuckled. Then I wondered why Gabes toilet has armrests.

    Then I started wondering why all toilets don't have armrests.

    This was my first reaction as well. Then, I was like

    wait a minute.
    that's no toilet.

    ely3ub6du1oe.jpg
  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Aioua wrote: »
    You know, Caulk, I was perfectly fine with how my brain simply ignored the fact that gabe had no pants. But, no, you had to point it out. Now I'll never unsee it.
    Wait. If you didn't know he didn't have pants, what was the joke for you.?

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  • TheECPTheECP Registered User regular
    Amazing, haha.

    Well I guess I have to get a vita now.

  • AurichAurich ArizonaRegistered User regular
    edited February 2012
    Aioua wrote: »
    You know, Caulk, I was perfectly fine with how my brain simply ignored the fact that gabe had no pants. But, no, you had to point it out. Now I'll never unsee it.
    Wait. If you didn't know he didn't have pants, what was the joke for you.?

    Perhaps the effect Gabe's little deviant is having on the game via the back touchscreen.

    Aurich on
  • KlykaKlyka DO you have any SPARE BATTERIES?Registered User regular
    At first I thought "Ha, he's not wearing pants that's funny."
    Then I remembered the touchscreen in the back.
    Then I remembered this game and saw the bulge D:

    SC2 EU ID Klyka.110
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  • NibbleNibble Registered User regular
    First I chuckled. Then I wondered why Gabes toilet has armrests.

    Then I started wondering why all toilets don't have armrests.

    Upon further inspection, I believe that is a swivel chair.

    Your point still stands, though.

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  • Maz-Maz- 飛べ Registered User regular
    Glorious.

    Add me on Switch: 7795-5541-4699
  • PonyPony Registered User regular
    I totally saw a toilet with armrests once

    it was in the swanky lounge of an airport that I technically wasn't supposed to be in

    I was all "so this is how rich people live"

  • InXplotchInXplotch Registered User regular
    So I saw this comic, and I was a little confused
    and then it dawned on me
    and now I wish I could take it back D:

    PSN: InXplotch
    ... My, what a boring Signature.
  • KageraKagera Imitating the worst people. Since 2004Registered User regular
    Man this is why I never use other people's handheld shit.

    Belch!

    My neck, my back, my FUPA and my crack.
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    Oh wait, the Vita has a touch screen on the back.

    I'm dumb.

    ... AHHHHHHH D:

  • jackaljackal Fuck Yes. That is an orderly anal warehouse. Registered User regular
    That's an awfully small hill there.

  • PenumbraPenumbra Registered User regular
    Ladai wrote: »
    First I chuckled. Then I wondered why Gabes toilet has armrests.

    Then I started wondering why all toilets don't have armrests.

    This was my first reaction as well. Then, I was like

    wait a minute.
    that's no toilet.

    Its a fully opperational death star!

    Switch Friend Code: 6359-7575-9391
  • Billy ChenowithBilly Chenowith Registered User regular
    This comic is divinely inspired

  • Form of Monkey!Form of Monkey! Registered User regular
    jackal wrote: »
    That's an awfully small hill there.

    Oh no, now I'm seeing the Ken doll action on the screen in the context of everything else!

    This is really a comic that gets more unsettling with more scrutiny.

  • The Good Doctor TranThe Good Doctor Tran Registered User regular
    There are moments when genius and madness collide and fully intermix.

    Ladies and gentlemen, let us gaze upon the End of Days.

    LoL & Spiral Knights & MC & SMNC: Carrington - Origin: CarringtonPlus - Steam: skdrtran
  • NeuroskepticNeuroskeptic Registered User regular
    This is a work of genius. There are comics that go thousands of frames without being as funny as this one, flawless, image.

  • Banzai5150Banzai5150 Registered User regular
    I feel sad for not noticing the arm rests, wondering why he was playing that on the toilet, and moving on, waiting for the news to figure it out later.

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  • Goose!Goose! That's me, honey Show me the way home, honeyRegistered User regular
    Well, what else are you gonna use if you've got 2 thumb sticks, a d-pad, 4 buttons, and a touch pad but only 2 hands to control with?

  • TleilaxuTleilaxu Registered User regular
    Well, my day's off to a disturbing start.

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  • SerukoSeruko Ferocious Kitten of The Farthest NorthRegistered User regular
    Ladai wrote: »
    First I chuckled. Then I wondered why Gabes toilet has armrests.

    Then I started wondering why all toilets don't have armrests.

    This was my first reaction as well. Then, I was like

    wait a minute.
    that's no toilet.

    that's no moon!

    "How are you going to play Dota if your fingers and bitten off? You can't. That's how" -> Carnarvon
    "You can be yodeling bear without spending a dime if you get lucky." -> reVerse
    "In the grim darkness of the future, we will all be nurses catering to the whims of terrible old people." -> Hacksaw
    "In fact, our whole society will be oriented around caring for one very decrepit, very old man on total life support." -> SKFM
    I mean, the first time I met a non-white person was when this Vietnamese kid tried to break my legs but that was entirely fair because he was a centreback, not because he was a subhuman beast in some zoo ->yotes
  • SpamSpam Registered User regular
    edited February 2012
    I don't know whether to be pleased or disgusted that I understood the comic without even knowing that the Vita had a touchscreen on the back (I was assuming it was a camera on the back).

    Still, I looked up the game to double check, and well, I'll just leave this here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6upMOyHRBTI#t=34s

    Spam on
  • TheCanManTheCanMan GT: Gasman122009 JerseyRegistered User regular
    I immediately understood the joke and what was going on. But somehow having it pointed out that Gabe's "input" was creating that hill makes it much worse.

  • RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    So glad I came here to learn how awesome this comic is.

  • FandeathisFandeathis Registered User regular
    They actually topped Friday's comic. This is amazing.

    You fuck wit' Die Antwoord, you fuck wit' da army.
  • agilemaniaagilemania Lyon EstatesRegistered User regular
    Spam wrote: »
    I don't know whether to be pleased or disgusted that I understood the comic without even knowing that the Vita had a touchscreen on the back (I was assuming it was a camera on the back).

    Still, I looked up the game to double check, and well, I'll just leave this here:

    Several seconds earlier is even better:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6upMOyHRBTI#t=27s

  • LadaiLadai Registered User regular
    Tycho wrote:
    I have coined the term “Rear Stylus,” and I am offering it for use royalty-free.

    That is just

    fantastic.

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  • Jolly-ollyJolly-olly Registered User regular
    Doesnt he mean "front-side stylus?" Oh, on the vita...

  • Munkus BeaverMunkus Beaver You don't have to attend every argument you are invited to. Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    edited February 2012
    I get the feeling that Tycho like Deus Ex a lot more than me.

    I thought the story was OK. I loved the backdrop that the action was taking place in. The endings were war-crimes and the bosses were an elaborate insult, a purposeful troll on the player built from the ground up.

    My favorite thing about Deus Ex was, of course, the 'exploration and stealth.' Really more the stealth aspect, because I almost invariably found the 'best' way to get something done. There may be alternate route alpha, beta, or zeta to get you inside a building, but once in those office mazes (and where I spent the majority of the game), there seemed to be just enough breadcrumbs to lead you through the 'best' route to the end. I felt kinda cheated, the illusion of choice when there is an actual best option available.

    At any rate, with the exception of the boss fights (which you could teach a class on bad boss design with) I felt that Deus Ex: HR got the game elements down really well, including the immersion into the world via the environment (having the backgdrop of the rich corporations right next to the slums of china, leaving you corporate base in Detroit to hit the streets. Hell, the streets vs the sterile clinic you go for your upgrades).

    But HR really, really fumbled with its story. I would hardly call it a 'sharp script' since it has extremely predictable twists and turns. The story can't make up its mind whether it wants to be about Adam or the conspiracy he inevitably finds. The game straddles the micro and the macro of what is going on in the world, doing its best when it focuses on the individual and how they are affected by your choices. But the game purposefully ignores them as it hits its crescendo and does everything it can to not play to the strengths of the story as it reaches its conclusion.

    Deus Ex: HR was constantly fighting against itself. The bosses fought against the design of the game, the global story fights against the story of the individuals. Maybe if Tycho played a build of HR that was half-finished with the bosses excluded, maybe then I'd feel his putting the game on a pedestal like that would be deserved. I haven't had a chance to play Syndicate (I really, really want to. I just do not have any money and as such cannot afford it) so I can't speak as to that game's capabilities, but for what praise I've heard of Syndicate so far, it does not seem to deserve playing the Goofus while Deus Ex, and all its flaws, shines as Gallant.

    Munkus Beaver on
    Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
  • TleilaxuTleilaxu Registered User regular
    I didn't feel insulted by DE:HR's boss fights at all. Mostly because I don't remember any boss fights; there were just long interludes of fighting someone between cutscenes.

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  • Caulk Bite 6Caulk Bite 6 One of the multitude of Dans infesting this place Registered User regular
    edited February 2012
    after the first boss fight, I had no compunctions about looking up quick and easy methods to surpass the other ones that remained. Turns out
    the typhoon was key for both.

    Caulk Bite 6 on
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  • AurichAurich ArizonaRegistered User regular
    edited February 2012
    While the endings were indeed war crimes, they were certainly consistent with the two games before it. The ridiculous nature of the conspiracies that Adam uncovers as well. Good or ill, those are tonal aspects of the series that were preserved with perfect clarity. And there were a couple things I didn't see coming, like
    Sarif never really betraying Adam (I was waiting for it the entire game), or Eliza being an AI
    but then again, I think trying to guess what's going to happen in a story is ruining your own fun, so my opinion on that score is low-value.

    At any rate, Big T hardly puts Deus Ex on a pedestal. He puts Syndicate on a nega-pedestal or something.

    Aurich on
  • Caulk Bite 6Caulk Bite 6 One of the multitude of Dans infesting this place Registered User regular
    Aurich wrote: »
    While the endings were indeed war crimes, they were certainly consistent with the two games before it. The ridiculous nature of the conspiracies that Adam uncovers as well. Good or ill, those are tonal aspects of the series that were preserved with perfect clarity. And there were a couple things I didn't see coming, like
    Sarif never really betraying Adam (I was waiting for it the entire game), or Eliza being an AI
    but then again, I think trying to guess what's going to happen in a story is ruining your own fun, so my opinion on that score is low-value.

    At any rate, Big T hardly puts Deus Ex on a pedestal. He puts Syndicate on a nega-pedestal or something.

    I like trying to guess plot points
    Eliza being an AI was one I got right, while I too was waiting for a Sarif betrayal

    As for the endings, they wouldn't have been as bad if they weren't
    press buttons A, B, C or D for the ending of your preference

    jnij103vqi2i.png
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