Shake Shack is brand new to Boston;
or more specifically the Chestnut Hill Mall area in Newton. This chain comes
directly to Mass from New York and preaches great things about their food
including, 100% all-natural Angus beef, vegetarian fed, humanely raised and no
added hormones and antibiotics. These things are important to my generation
health eaters who want to splurge on a good burger every once in a while. In
addition to their high quality food source, Shake Shack also boasts 100% of the
electricity used is offset through window and renewable energy, waste is
properly recycled, most structures inside each location has been constructed
from recycled material (table tops are repurposed from old bowling alley
lanes), food properly composted and 5% of sales are donated to charitable
organizations (think Costco). It’s clear, Shake Shack makes a point to go out
of their way to differentiate not just by their food offerings, but by their
presence in the community. Ok Shake Shack, you have my attention.
These burgers are fantastic. Probably the best
tasting burgers I’ve ever-- well they are good! Perfectly cooked, juicy, with
the perfect melted cheese to patty ratio. When you take a bite, it’s exactly
how you would want a cheeseburger to taste.
You do not need to order a double cheeseburger here! A single patty
burger will suffice. Sure you can order
a double, but there is little advantage in doing so. If you are worried about
the amount of food you’ll receive, order two single cheeseburgers. The double
patty is just big enough to be annoying to eat, especially when it comes
directly off the grill. Your first bite will throw hot scorching juices to the
back of your month, destroying your tongue in the process. Of course, the
alternative is just waiting a few more minutes for your burger to cool, but
when you’ve been waiting for 30 minutes for your food, there’s little patience
left.
Fries are awful (as awful as fries
can be… does that make sense?). They are tolerable
fries because there’s nothing really special about them (especially when put up
against the rest of the fries on this page) and it reminds me of the fries I
used to get in middle school. Feels like they took the fries out of the freezer
and threw them in the oven for 10 minutes and served them. In fact, I would go
as far to say they reminded me of the old Burger King fries before BK started
copying McDonald’s fries. But let’s face it; you don’t come here for the
fries.
Another big differentiating factor
that Shake Shack has from other “burger places” is the hotdogs and frozen
custard and shakes. All three are delicious menu options that allow Shake Shack
to appeal more to families with different tastes in food and deserts. And I
mean all members of the family. Want to bring your dog to hang out at the
outside patio? Shake Shack offers “treats with those with four feet”, several
different types of dog biscuits. The Dapper Dog, an all-beef hotdog with
American Cheese and shallots will leave your taste buds drooling while the
Concretes and Shakes are the perfect pallet cleanse to finish off a meal. Not a
desert lover? Then Shake Shack can offer a verity of beers to wash down your
burger and fries. Beer with burgers was once only dreamed of when watching Pulp
Fiction. Everything on the menu should be experienced at least once.
I’m not going to say I was “let
down” by Shake Shack…the food was definitely good… but when you walk up to the
Newton establishment and see a line out the door for a restaurant that you need
to order by a counter, it kinda takes the wind out of your sale. So that’s
standing in line for 20 minutes, ordering, then finding table to wait for 10
more minutes. Would I drive all the way out to Rt 9 for their food? Not with my
other options like 5 Guys and Bobby’s (Review soon to come). If I was passing
by would I stop in for their food? Not if I saw the line out the door… like it
is EVERYDAY. Your move Shake Shack.
I’m proud of my generation, making
a stand against the fast food restaurants that have dominated the region for
decades. McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s were the only quick burger options
in Massachusetts. But because of this refusal to eat processed meats and the
desire for more options than just “would you like fries with that?” the result
is dozens of premium burger places popping up around New England and hopefully
staying for good. We saw how quickly food fads die when Krispy Kreme came to
Medford back in 2003 and promptly left in 2005. Are these burger joints here to
stay? I hope so. I also hope their presence makes In-And-Out, Whataburger and
Sonic think twice about expanding in the Bay State. These options do not hold a
candle to the burning inferno that is the new burger places talked about on
this page.
I’ve
sampled a few of the new burger places and graded them on the three things I
like to see in burgers. Quality of the beef, price, time to wait for a burger
and a bonus grade of how good their fries are. Each grade is out of a 5 star
system and each cheeseburger was sampled without any toppings or condiments to
not skew the reviews. Because let’s face it, if you’re ordering a hamburger
over a cheeseburger you have bigger problems than “what do I put on my burger?”
DISCLAIMER: What
I am not talking about here are the specialty Boston Burger joints that have
been around for a couple years now. That goes for most of the Boston/Cambridge
and Somervile Burger places like Park Restaurant, Grass fed, The Gallows, and
Charlie’s Kitchen. This write up is for the new chains that will hopefully push
out the places listed in the first paragraph.
5 Guys - (840 Calories per cheeseburger)
I first had 5 Guys back in 2006
down in South Carolina and I was blown away. We just don’t get this kind of
burger back in Mass. Since then, there have been 15 establishments that have
opened up within 50 miles of Boston and the burgers are just as good as I
remembered them. 5 Guys prides their burgers on two facts: no freezers exist in
their buildings and there are 250,000 ways to order a burger at a 5 Guys. So
that translates to the beef is never frozen giving a fresher, juicier burger
and even folks with food allergies can get in on the 5 Guys experience. When
ordering a burger, employees will have no trouble cooking a bunless burger for
those that have celiac disease and whom are gluten intolerant. They recognize
that folks who love burger and do not want to deprive them of good beef. So
that means as they are building the burger which you can watch from the
counter, they will carry the patty to the tinfoil and pile on the lettuce,
tomatoes, onions and pickles before wrapping it up for the customer. Customers
can choose to bring their own glutenfree bread or carry out. There is a great
selection of toppings to choose from including different sauces (personally I
eat my cheeseburgers with ketchup on the side, dipping the edges of the burger
as I choose) including Hot sauce, BBQ Sauce and A1 Sauce??
Cheeseburgers start around $6 but
the cost can quickly escalate when you start adding fries and drinks. Don’t be
surprised when an order for two order is in the upper $20s. Add Bacon to an
“All the way” (meaning all the toppings) Cheeseburger (920 Calories) can cost
up to $7.80.A large frie is $4.99 and believe me, a large is freakin huge. I’d
recommend sharing even a regular order but boy are they good. Most 5 Guys have
a white board on the wall depicting where their potatoes are from. Which
doesn’t really add anything to the taste but it’s a nice nod to local produce
(where available). The fries always catch me off guard because they are
typically smokin’ hot when they are served to you. Crispy on the outside with
soft innards. It really is the perfect frie. The other great thing about 5 Guys
is the wait. Even when they are busy, standing for your order is not a tiring,
aggravating event. There's definitely a reason why it's called "5 Guys Famous Burgers and Fries".
I started with 5 Guys because they
have proven to be an all-around great experience in the four areas I mentioned
above. Delicious trans-fat free burger, short wait, decent price and Fuxin
fantastic fries.
Last of Us Impressions– This may have been the hardest game to find time to
play over the weekend. The Elder Scrolls Online line was LONGER, but since Sony
set up shop in the middle of the showroom, the Enforcers were obligated to cap
the line so it didn’t spill into the showroom lanes. 30 minutes of gameplay was
a nice surprise. Everyone who plays gets a shirt (see swag photo - bottom left) and if
you complete the demo, you get a "special prize" (a stress ball in the shape of a
brick).
The beginning of the demo opens in a rundown city. Vegetation
has taken over and buildings are crumbling. Right away players will get the
sense of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, the first time Drake jogs through the
jungle in search of El Dorado. The Last of Us also incorporates the same little
treasure sound effect when the game wants you to look at something. As you play
as Joel, a rugged Mad Max type, you are accompanied by the unplayable 14 year
old Ellie and an unnamed older woman. It is clear right away you and your
group are heading for the State Capital (which in the distance resembles a lot
like the Boston State Capital). There are rumors a lot of the game takes place
in Boston as well as other cities on the eastern seaboard.
The first 5 minutes of the demo gets players in tune with the
controls and exploring the map which consists of condemned building and a run down city. Players need to scour the area for supplies
such as bandages, ammo, guns, and melee weapons such as pipes and wooden bats.
The group stumbles across a dead “clicker” which is a person who has been
infected by an outbreak of fungus that has apparently spread across the United States.
The fungus turns people into flesh eating zombies; splits open a
person’s head, disabling their vision and forces the monsters to make noises with their
mouth... The enemies emit a “clicking” sound to use a sonar type navigation for hunting. Clickers are the
most dangerous enemy in the game and kill players in 1 hit. The object is to
avoid them at all costs. There are a second type of enemy in the demo which act
the same way as clickers do, only they are in the early stages of the
infection, can still see, and will not kill players in 1 hit.
This is Naughty Dog’s first M rated game and it appears they are pulling out all the stops when it comes to the gore. Watching my friends play
the game when a Clicker gets a hold of you, it immediately bites your neck, pulling back strands of flesh off your body. (PS- I didn’t die during the demo :) )
The demo showcases two large areas of the game where players
must strategically decide how to take out the enemies. Aggroing them all at
the same time is a recipe for disaster. The first area contains 1 clicker and 4
infected enemies. Taking out the first infected was easy. Naughty Dog
incorporated a sneaking tactic which allows you suffocate and/or break the neck
of enemies to stay silent. Players must then must turn to their backpack and use a combination of supplies
they have been collecting and create distractions by throwing objects such as
bricks and bottles to lure enemies away and take out stragglers. There are
options such as bashing infected enemies skulls in with bricks, shooting them
in the head with a pistol/magnum (which will most likely gain the attention of the other
enemies) or taking them out silently one by one. When things get rough for
Joel, he will go into an all-out fist fight (much like Nathan does in
Uncharted) to beat enemies to death. If you are close to walls and other
obstacles in the room, Joel will use that to his advantage and throw enemies
into walls/objects.
The second area Joel must pass through is what looks to be a
subway station. There are quite a few enemies in this area but the game
introduces you to molotov cocktails, which if you have not been gathering
supplies as you advance through the demo, you might not have enough material to
make them. Molotov cocktails are good ways to take out multiple enemies; throw
a brick at the corner of an area, watch the enemies stagger over to the noise,
throw a cocktail and watch them burn. This area also gives you a shotgun with 3
or 4 shells. Ammo is very scarce cross the game which resembles a lot like the
Condemned series. (Speaking of which, why have we not seen a Condemned 3??)
You finally make it back outside which felt like an eternity
after exploring the abandoned building and subway station, and there’s a nice
little cut scene that will hold players over until the game’s release.
Fans of Naught Dog and new players will love the tone, art
direction and action compressed in the tight little package of Last of Us. I
don’t think there’s any doubt this game will be a hit. It’s a thrilling breath
of fresh air in the zombie craze (if that makes any sense). It’s not going to
be an all-out shooter, although it’s possible some stages may incorporate that,
the real fun is giving players the option on how to approach situation. Do I
attack or do I avoid? Ammo and health kits are scarce. Choose wisely. I for one
will definitely be support this game on launch.
Elder Scrolls Online Impressions (AKA Skyrim Online)- I waited in line the longest to play this
when I could have gone home and played Skyrim to get the same impressions.
That’s essentially when this game is. It was nice to have 30 PCs setup for us
to play, but the real WOW factor was playing outside of the booth; A five
minute cinematic showing off three of the playable classes that was released
back in January.
One
thing that looks different from Skyrim is the flexibility in the upgrade trees.
Weapons and armor are not tied down to classes. For example I could give a
warrior (or dragon knight as ESO calls it) some leather armor and a bow if I
want, or I can give my wizard heavy gear and have him walk around like Bugs Bunny
in a suit of armor. The choice is yours.
The
only big question that has not been released yet is the pricing model. Will
Elder Scrolls Online go free to play? Or will there be a subscription involved?
We saw what happened to The Old Republic with their subscription model… but I
bet Betheda will bet the farm that the Skyrim name will help them gain
subscribers and try their hand at $19.99/month. Below is the cinematic playing
at the booth.
Elder Scrolls Online does not have a release date yet, but it's
due sometime in 2013.
Metro: Last Light Impressions– Difficult! Well I played Metro 2033 on PC
and of course, everyone knows that playing an FPS on PC is much easier than
playing on console. So I was forced to use a crappy Xbox controller to figure
out how get through the demo. It made things difficult and sucked a lot of the
fun out of this game, but it does look like an equally immersive experience
much like Metro 2033.
I was a little disappointed with the level they decided to
showcase. It seemed like players needed to sneak around a lot to avoid enemies
and the objective was not really clear. I wish they choose a better map. Graphically,
the game looked surprisingly similar to Metro 2033. I didn't see too many changes or jaw dropping sequences.
Slight engine tweaks and a new game shouldn't have caused a three year dev
cycle right?
Metro Last Light will be released on PS3, 360 and PC on May 14,
2013.
Dead Island RiptideImpressions - Ugh, I thought maybe I would have fresh outlook on this
franchise considering how much I hated the first release. It worked for
Borderlands, why not Dead Island? Because Dead Island has not really changed
much. It's still ridiculously hard to kill zombies which takes a lot of fun out
of the whole point of game; killing zombies. I understand they are trying to incorporate a leveling
system here but I think there would be easier ways to do this with certain melee
weapons and areas of the island. This just isn't my cup of tea and it was not a
pleasant experience.
Dead Island Riptide is due out on PS3, 360 and PC April 23.
At this point, all of the PAX events in the past have molded
together in my mind and I cannot remember which events featured which games
without reading my blog to know which year they were showcased. But one thing
is clear. This was the biggest turnout yet. In the posts following, if I don’t
have “Impressions” behind the game title then I did not play that game. I
merely watched a video of gameplay.
Watch Dogs– What
a waste of time waiting to see the secret playing behind this booth. No
developers or publishers to speak about the game. Just a few Frag Dolls playing
two videos that told me no more than what has already been posted online.
What’s with the secrecy here? Watch Dogs is due out holiday 2013.
Saints Row 4– It
was a surprise to see this here and we actually had someone from Deep Silver,
which is the new development studio taking over after THQ went bankrupt,
speaking to us about the game. Deep Silver talked about a lot of the new
features but in actuality, SR4 is merely an huge expansion to SR3. Yes it’s an
entirely new standalone game, but there really isn't anything to get excited
for here.
As
for the story goes, it looks like the Saint’s leader has been elected President
of the United States and there’s an Alien invasion in Washington DC (those were
the two “big” reveals about the game during our demo). So naturally the whole
game will probably be about defeating the aliens using all the new weapons,
cars and super powers that are featured in SR4. One of the features gives the
Saints Leader Superman-like powers. Fly, freeze targets and throw cars at
them. There’s also a Dubstep gun, yes a Dubstep gun, which is far as I can tell
makes everyone in the area stop and dance to dubstep music and turns all
vehicles into hydraulic rhythm toning beat boxes. Fans of the series will get a
kick out of this stuff but will it really be worth $60 or is this something
Deep Silver is throwing out there as a cash grab circled around THQ’s mistakes? Saints Row 4 is due out sometime in 2013.
Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag– Another waste of time. So let’s keep
track, that’s 4 hours of lines on day 1 that I wish I could have back.
Generally speaking, only diehard fans of this franchise are going to be
interested in Assassins Creed 4. Yes the naval battles will be returning but
who the fuck cares? There are way more interesting things to play in 2013 and
2014 than rehashing this beaten to death franchise for a 9thtime. The franchise is only 7 years
old and there’s going to be nine titles. Think about that. How badly does
Ubisoft want to be Call of Duty?
So
yes the Naval Battles are back and yes they have improved them. How? Black Flag
will allow you to upgrade your ship AND CUSTOMIZE IT! Raise your hand if you
hear the sounds of a register closing in the form of micro-transactions. (I’m
speculating there) But not only are the naval battles improved, the scope of
this gameplay time is also expanded, which you can probably guess because the
whole fucking game is about pirates and it would be pretty stupid if they
didn’t expand this area from AC3. So now you can board ships and accomplish an
array of missions and objectives achievements.
Black
Flag will also step up the exploration scope allowing you to travel around the
Caribbean Islands. Sit on the beach, explore the jungle, fuck you can even go
snorkeling! Yes you can swim in the ocean and the second I saw this I wonder
how many treasure chests Ubisoft is going to fuck your day up with when you
need to find all 352 for that glories achievement you want to brag to no one
about. I can hear them pitch this in the dev meetings. “Hey, we can put chests
across the entire region and make them play extra hours for a dinky trophy!”
“Great idea Bob. God we are brilliant at innovation.”
Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag is due out this November.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist– I cursed this game as soon as I heard
Michael Ironside wasn’t voicing the character Sam anymore. This would be like
if Konami didn’t hire David Hayter for the voice of… oh shit. Well there’s two epicly terrible industry decisions. I don’t understand why they can’t hire
some young guy to do the motion cap and just have Ironside dub over dialog in
post-production? It’s not like they were doing hardcore mocapping for the PSX titles.
I
went through a Splinter Cell bender once Conviction was released on steam. I
played through all five of them (with the exception of the PSP version,
Essentials) back to back x 3. Conviction went off the mark a little with the
stealth aspect and it turned into a run and gun action game, but they’re still
enjoyable. I’m hoping Blacklist returns to stealth as the major gameplay
mechanic.
So
what’s new? Not much. A bunch of mumbo jumbo that gamers don’t really care
about. A bunch of “refinement” crap and new features like: An economy system!
So if haven’t heard by now. EA is going to rape us with their in game
micro-transaction bullshit and Ubisoft appears to be taking a page out of their
book to create their own micro-bullshit. (all speculation but I’m an angry gamer
with a blog so this is the result) Splinter Cell: Blacklist is due out August 20th, on PS3, 360, Wii-U and PC.
It looks to be a little early for this, but I thought I
would go ahead and get it out of the way before I need to wrap up last year'sTop Anticipated list. (I've seen 15 out of the 20 I listed last year, three
have not been released yet and one got a very small limited release that I may
not catch this year, so I'm only behind on Argo) But 2012 has been a fantastic
year for cinema, and 2013 looks to carry the torch. The follow is a list of my
top anticipated movies of 2013.
20. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese) - It's Scorsese and it stars Leo so it makes the list. But Hugo was pure example of filmmaker porn, so it sits at the bottom for now.
19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller) - Do we really need a 4th Mad Max? Probably not, but these set pieces look cool.
18. The Wolverine (James Mangold) - Hugh Jackman must really
love playing Logan when he keeps coming back to projects with no promise. Even
though this is supposedly supposed to be a semi-sequel to the first Wolverine
movie (that sucked big time) Mark Bomback is rewriting the script. Bomback is
responsible for the horror that was, Race to Witch Mountain, Die Hard 4,
Unstoppable and the Total Recall remake. Despite Wolverine being one of the best
comic book characters ever created, that's not enough to move this movie from
the bottom (but yet still slightly hopefully) of my anticipated movie list.
17. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (Robert Rodriguez) - Does
Robert Rodriguez have nothing better to do? With a release date set in October
of 2013, we should to start seeing some official photos and teasers soon. But
most of the cast from the first film is returning, Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke,
Clive Owen, Michael Madsen. It remains low on my list for lack of information.
16. Warm Bodies (Jonathan
Levine) - This premise is a joke, but there is something oddly charming about
the way Levine approaches scripts. He made having cancer feel comfortable in
50/50 and even if 2013 is seeing more than one high profile zombie release, (Will
the zombie craze ever stop??) Warm Bodies has Rob Corddry and John Malkovich...
so I'm obligated to see it.
15. A Good Day to Die Hard (John Moore) - After Bomback and Len
Wiseman ruined John McClane's personality in Live Free or Die Hard, John Moore
apparently is doing everything he can to revive him and assuring us "This
is Die Hard! Any shit won't do!". With publicity that includes a car chase
that was 78 days in the making, it's hard not to get excited to see John
McClane save the world. It's low on my list because Moore also is responsible
for Max Payne. *shudder*
14. Man of Steel (Zack Synder) - I'm not sure what to think of
this yet. What are we in for? The joke heard around the internet is we are
about to see Superman fly in slow motion since that appears to be the style
Synder (300, Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead, Sucker Punch) likes to edit in. However
we also have the master of the Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan penning the
script and producing, so he's obviously going to have a lot of input on how the
movie comes out. Cautiously optimistic after the disaster that was Superman Returns.
13. World War Z (Marc Forster) - So it's official, this movie is
going to be nothing like the book. It was originally on my list for 2012, but
when reshoots were being called into action the release date was pushed back
into 2013. What scares me about this? Damon Lindelof was brought in to help
with the script. What's exciting about this? Joss Whedon was brought on as a
consultant of the reshoots. Who knows if any of the trailer had reshoots in
them. They are definitely trying something new with the zombie theme- I am not
a fan of running zombies, but there's some interesting shots below.
12. White House Down (Ronald Emmerich) - The master of disaster
movies, Emmerich (ID4, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012) is taking on a new film that
involves the white house being taken over by terrorists. Improbable concept,
but Emmerich has entertained me in the past.Staring Channing Tatum.
11. The Chronicles of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking (David Twohy) -
Probably my favorite character developed within the last 10 years. Twohy's last
Riddick movie was a flop in theaters, but the fanbase was large enough he got
the funding to finance another R-rated Riddick movie. I've been waiting a long
time for this trailer to come out. With a release date in March, I hope we see
it soon.
10. Nymphomaniac (Lars von Trier) – Easily one of the most
provocative and blunt directors out there right now, Lars von Trier raised
eyebrows with Anti-Christ and last year’s Melancholia (which I thought was the
best film of last year). His new film is titled, Nymphomaniac, and apparently
involves unsimulated sexual intercourse. Actress Nicole Kidman already dropped
out after reading the script, but Shia LeBeouf remains on the cast list.
Interesting to see what Lars has up his sleeve.
9. Oz: The Great and Powerful (Sam Raimi) - Trailer below. :)
8. Oldboy (Spike Lee) – I’m not sure why I have this on my
list. The original was phenomenal and remains in my top 30 movies of all time.
Could Spike Lee ever adapt this into something equally thrilling? Staring
Samuel L Jackson, Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen… I can’t help but anticipate
the Americanization of Oldboy.
7. Iron Man 3 (Shane Black) - Hard to not get excited over the
next story arc in the Avengers universe. Trailer says it all.
6. The Last Stand (Jee-woon Kim) - If you don't know Jee-woon
Kim by now, you fucking should. I Saw the Devil is one of the best movies I saw
this year and I wrote about the Good the Bad and the Weird earlier this year.
He's now directing Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first full length feature film
since stepping down as Governor of California and based on the trailer, it
looks to be fantastic.
5. Pacific Rim (Guillermo del Toro) – Love del Toro’s style, so
naturally a science fiction film based on the Japanese monster film genre known
as Kaiju, will be hard to ignore. Updated: Added Trailer!
4. The Evil Dead (Fede Alvarez) All Alvarez is known for is
this short youtube clip, but The Evil Dead and I go way back. The Evil Dead
(1981) was the scariest movie I had ever seen, and I probably saw it at an age
where I shouldn’t have watched it. But by the time Army of Darkness came out I
was already a Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell fan. Raimi is still producing this,
so I have faith he won’t let it suck, but this trailer is indeed shocking… and
exciting.
3. Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón) – Known for Children of Men and the
best Harry Potter in the crappy series (Prisoner of Azkaban) Cuaron is
helming Gravity, another sci-fi movie starring Sandra Bullock and
George Clooney. Not much else is known about the project except: “Gravity is
the next Avatar in terms of ambition: the film is a contemporary survival
thriller that follows a woman as she attempts to make her way back to earth
after a satellite crash sets off a chain reaction of further crashes. Because
it’s set in space, most shots require every element to float in zero-gravity”…
Yes please. To further my excitement for
this film; “DeFaria said there are only 156 shots in the entire two-hour film.
If you do the math, that means quite a few of these shots would have to be over
30 seconds long at least (which is an eternity compared to many of the shots in
your average action film), and DeFaria notes that some of them could run
anywhere from six to 10 minutes without a single cut.” Wow.
2. Star Trek into Darkness (J.J. Abrams) – This will be the
final straw which determines if J.J. Abrams is indeed an elite director or if
his production and marketing campaigns are stronger than the actual final
product. Good luck JJ. Updated: Added Trailer!
1. Elysium (Neill Blomkamp) – Blomkamp did District 9 on a $30
million budget, so how will a sci-fi film with $130 million budget turn out?
Backed by Hollywood’s A list actor Matt
Damon, the synopsis reveals; “In the year 2159, two classes of people exist.
The first are the very wealthy who live on Elysium, a pristine man-made space
station looking like a stanford torus built by the Armadyne Corporation. The
rest live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a
hard-nosed government official, will stop at nothing to enforce
anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of
Elysium.”
Blast
Pit is one of my favorite levels in Half-Life and Black Mesa for multiple reasons.
Firstly, it is a strategic chapter designed to ease the tension of the player.
A lot of video games do not think of a players emotional state as they progress
through the game. Games like Doom 3 for example, constantly throw enemy after
enemy at the player until the each boss is defeated. I wouldn’t expect anything
less from Id since action shooters are what they are known for. But Valve took
a different direction with their action shooters. In every Half-Life game released, there are levels
that are designed to ease the tension on the player and introduce another
element of gameplay. These emotional breaks not only allow the player to shift
their gameplay style, but it allows the player to become more connected with
the character, or in this case, the environment around the player. Developers
need to learn you do not always need action on screen to make a game a thrilling
experience.
This
chapter Blast Pit is probably one of the best designed remade chapters by the
Black Mesa team. It’s a beautiful render of the source engine and it opens up
the Black Mesa Research facility even further in terms of size. The
decommissioned rail system that Gordon was told about in the previous chapter
is easily found and stretches out the size of the complex nicely. But Gordon learns quickly that it won’t be easy as he thought to get to the Lambda
Complex. The resonance cascade appears to have taken out the rail system
bridge. Time to go on by foot.
Another
reason why this chapter is my favorite is because it is also one of the few
levels with a mini-boss. Inside the rocket test labs is a giant mutated
alien creature, blocking Gordon’s pathway to the rail system. In order to
destroy the monster, Gordon must fire the test rockets, which currently is notonline due to lack of power and fuel. Gordon’s next two tasks are to solve the
two puzzles; but they are not as direct as you think they might be. If players
realize early that you must enter the beast’s chamber This is
the first chapter where Gordon get’s equipped with the explosive satchel,
although grenades are much more efficient for this puzzle.
To turn
on the oxygen/fuel tanks, Gordon climbs down a level and follows the colored pipes
to another elevator shaft. Climbing down the shaft Gordon enters another sewer
system that eventually leads him to a giant silo looking area. More Climbing... leads to a manual override switch that turns on a giant wind turbine.
Eventually the end of this adventure leads to a control room with a valuepuzzle. Turning on the OXY/FUEL puzzle isn’t really that difficult, but it’s
the monotonous journey to find that final switch that makes the puzzle
interesting. Also seeing the Black mesa team add to the subtle new differences
is a nice touch, like the lights changing to red as Gordon enters and exits the
silo.
Turning
on the power is a similar puzzle but again, more subtle encounters are added such
as having the Houndeyes sleeping in the middle of the hallway only to awake
when Gordon approaches. Talking to a scientist informs the player that Smithers
(another scientist) went to try and turn the power on himself, but “never came
back”. Later, a Bullsquids is spotted eating a scientist who is presumably
Smithers. Luckily, Smithers is revealed to be hiding when Gordon goes to flip
the second switch which turns on the power. Now that someone has “restored allpower”, the engine can now be fired.
