aabicus – Page 9 – The Daily SPUF

A Moment of Silence for Quake’s Ogre Marksman

March 14, 2021March 31, 2021 aabicus 0 Comments cut content, monster, mourning, ogre, quake

I recently wrote an article about a cut weapon from Doom. Today I want to dedicate a similar eulogy for a similarly-redacted element from Doom‘s sequel series, Quake. But first, we need to talk about Ogres. What is an Ogre? Ogres are the most frequently-appearing of the many enemies in Quake. Wielding chainsaws and a grenade launcher, they don’t seem to have much in common with the sort of medieval tropes you’d expect to see. But nevertheless they set the benchmark for enemy damage. The 5 enemies that deal more then the ogre are considered “upper-tier” and a high-priority. While the 7… [Continue Reading]

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A Moment of Silence for Doom’s Assault Rifle

March 10, 2021January 10, 2022 aabicus 0 Comments alpha, assault, doom, mourning, rifle

Team Fortress 2 isn’t the only game that gave assault rifles the boot. The original Doom has one of the most iconic FPS rosters in history, but is surprisingly lacking the most famous generalist weapon of all time. Yet did you know it wasn’t always that way? Today I wanted to spend an article discussing the sordid history of the unluckiest weapon in the world’s most famous shooter. The Early Alpha Doom‘s assault rifle was there from the beginning, the very first and only weapon available in the early alphas released to the public (once the Wolfenstein 3D sprites were… [Continue Reading]

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Quake: Does it Hold Up?

March 8, 2021February 7, 2022 aabicus 0 Comments early review, first impressions, first thoughts, quake

In keeping with the spirit that inspired me to play the original Doom and Doom II to fill the pre-Team Fortress Classic hole in my repertoire, I would be remiss to not also try id Software’s other magnum opus. Their followup game that nevertheless managed to redefine the shooter genre again and take the gaming industry by storm. I don’t know how they managed to do it twice, but the original Quake is a fantastic experience. If you haven’t played it, you really need to go see what all the fuss was about. Now I must confess that I didn’t… [Continue Reading]

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7 Things I Miss From Just Cause 2

March 5, 2021March 5, 2021 aabicus 0 Comments comparison, criticism, just cause 2

Just Cause 2 is definitely one of my favorite games of all time, at least in the top 3. It’s the perfect mix of mobility, environmental destruction, and cheesy B-grade voice-acting. It makes you feel like you’re starring in a very explosive action movie. I have hundreds of hours in the single-player and multiplayer modes combined. I keep finding myself coming back despite having less and less available to do in my save file. So finally, during the last Steam Winter sale, I finally bought the complete Just Cause 3 collection for only $4 so I could see where the… [Continue Reading]

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5 Hidden Weapon Mechanics in Payday 2

February 16, 2021February 16, 2021 aabicus 0 Comments mechanics, payday 2, spuf of legend, weapons

Payday 2 has one of the most expansive rosters of firearms I can think of in gaming. Pretty much every type of real-world ordnance has at least some representation in a complete heister’s inventory. But this does lead to a lot of odd or un-intuitive things happening under the hood in the game’s code. Today, we’re covering 5 Hidden Weapon Stats in Payday 2 that I think every player should know about. These either drastically change how you use the gun or they’re a useful feature you should be taking advantage of if you don’t already know about it. 1.… [Continue Reading]

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The Original Doom: Does it Hold Up?

February 7, 2021June 23, 2021 aabicus 0 Comments analysis, doom, doom II, retrospective

Since Team Fortress Classic was my first-ever multiplayer game, I’d actually never played the original Doom. Doom took the entire gaming industry by storm and forever changed the future of shooters. But thanks to the never-ending quarantine, plus getting addicted to speedrunning videos like the ones on Karl Jobst’s YouTube channel, I finally purchased and played through Doom and Doom II. While I know I’m not breaking any new ground with this incredibly-hot take, I think they may be two of the greatest games I’ve ever played. Still Badass It was truly eye-opening to go back and see these two seminal… [Continue Reading]

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Cyberpunk 2077: First Impressions

January 5, 2021December 29, 2020 aabicus 0 Comments criticism, cyberpunk 2077, early review, first impressions, review

Cyberpunk 2077 has had a…polarizing release, to say the least. We were all pretty much expecting that, given that all the pieces were there for a very tumultuous recipe. Massive overbearing hype, multiple lengthy production delays, a widely-trusted developer hoping to meet lofty expectations, and a suspicious lack of actual gameplay in the trailers. But even I was surprised by the extreme variance in incoming early reviews. Some people (myself included) reported pristine performance, others were experiencing barely-playable messes. Certain aspects of the game were incredible, often genre-forwarding improvements to the formula. Whereas other core fundamentals were lacking or downright antithetical… [Continue Reading]

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Beating the First Game with the Worst Pokémon – Bonus Part 6

December 31, 2020June 15, 2021 aabicus 2 Comments challenge, glitches, magikarp, pokemon, university magikarp

Yesterday we witnessed a drugged-out fish stumble drunkenly through the Elite Four like a bull in a china shop. Most champions would hang up the gloves and retire to a life of meditation and peaceful tranquility…but our hero is no ordinary karp. After being crowned the reigning titleholders of Kanto, Magikarp and I experience a credits-themed fever dream and regain consciousness outside mom’s house in Pallet Town. Our first objective is clear; there was a trainer in Victory Road whose Grass team was so chonky that I couldn’t defeat her even at level 100. Now that I’d beaten the game… [Continue Reading]

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Beating the First Game with the Worst Pokémon – Part 5

December 30, 2020November 10, 2023 aabicus 0 Comments challenge, magikarp, pokemon, university magikarp

Magikarp has traveled the entire Kanto region, defeating countless opponents and overcoming far more obstacles than most fish, not the least of which being his own stubborn refusal to obey his trainer. And now, finally, our hero’s journey is reaching its pinnacle. The best trainers in the league are waiting for his challenge in Indigo Plateau. But first we need to beat our rival one last time to gain access to Victory Road. Blue’s team is finally coming into its own, with a full team of six Pokemon and several that hit incredibly hard, especially the Alakazam and Blastoise (you… [Continue Reading]