Our back catalogue.

Hey everyone, It's Jordan. I know all of our awesome podcasts are only available to stream and that doesn't work for everyone. So for the time being this post will be an ongoing compilation of our older and current podcasts available for download as mp3s. Please message our facebook page if any link is dead.

Small Talk
Ep. 1-3
Ep. 4-5
Ep. 6-7
Ep. 8
Ep. 9
Ep. 10
Ep. 11
Ep.12
Ep. 13
Ep. 14
Ep. 15
Ep. 16

Round_2
Ep. 1
Ep. 2
Ep. 3

The Evil Within [2014] First Impressions, The Roots of "Survival Horror"

Hey all,

         Back again and just wanted to say a few words about my first hour or two with 'The Evil Within', Shinji Mikami's newest foray into survival horror. Mikami is famous for directing and producing several of the Resident Evil games, namely Resident Evil 4- the game that arguably changed the face of survival horror and action games for years to come. While the latest installments of the Resident Evil series haven't been very well received, the sixth especially, this was a chance to get back to the roots of why we really love survival horror games. Tense action sequences, limited resources, and a seriously dreary atmosphere to boot. At least that's what keeps me playing these games anyway. Personally, Resident Evil 4 was, and still is, one of my favourite games of all time. Any opportunity to play through another gaming experience like Mikami's RE4 is something I'll lineup for, so of course I'm already hooked.

You play as the poor sap on the left, Sebastian Castellanos

         Right away you can see that this isn't necessarily the spiritual successor to Resident Evil 4 in the sense that say Dark Souls was to Demon's Souls. Instead Tango has adapted the framework of the Resident Evil 4 over-the-shoulder action formula and added in some stealth aspects as well as good ol' "un-killable" enemies. A new aspect to the combat involves burning the bodies of the recently dead to ensure that they're in fact gone for good. However, your supply of matches will only last so long so you have to choose wisely as to which enemies you can handle fighting a second time.

Yeah, I'm burning that guy.

When you start the game you aren't even able to stand off with your first formidable opponent, instead you have to sneak away from his chainsaw-wielding ass before you get chopped to bits. Then just when you think you're done for, you wake up in what looks like a dingy mental hospital where a ghostly (I'm assuming ghostly) nurse walks you through how to save your game and upgrade your stats with a demented brain surgery tool. Much of this part of the story has yet to be explained, but once I delve deeper I'll share some more here.

Your brain on drugs. Ouch

So far I'm having lots of fun with The Evil Within. I found there to be a bit of a learning curve with the controls at first, especially in the stealth elements where I was staggered by my injuries, but we'll see if that remains an issue as I move ahead in the game. Keep your eyes peeled for some more "Let's Play" footage, as I'll be recording some of my favourite sequences as we go along through the story mode. Luckily you won't get to hear my screaming on the other end.

Check out the first video of our coverage here, a cool little Easter egg for Resident Evil fans:

-Will

Bungie giving gamers a poor story line? Hooplah! (Destiny)

Here it is...The Round_2 blog. It's quiet in here...I guess I'll start it off then.

     With all the small talk (pun fully intended) about Destiny the past few weeks, I decided it was about time I wrote some words down for all you dedicated readers, listeners and soon to be viewers out there. All...6? 7 of you? However, the fact that this article won't be read by the masses doesn't make it a moot point.

     I've been enjoying all of Destiny's ups and downs since it's early September release. Jem and I have already agreed on a few of it's faults. Farming can be exploitative and cumbersome for the rewards given, but then again, strikes and raids with friends make for one of the best gaming experiences all year. Perhaps the topic of most debate though, has been the story line. Complaints about how it's practically nonexistent are completely fair, and Peter Dinklage or Bill Nighy couldn't do anything to save the script given to them. It's gotten to the point where obsessive gamers are speculating on parts of the story that perhaps Bungie left out about 'the Darkness' and a Beta tester revealed the story was once drastically different. My advice; spend your precious time shooting into black holes and making green, blue and purple (ha!) stuff pop out. Stop dreaming that there's some hidden Bungie story agenda behind this world that they've created. 

This is the love you were "supposed" to feel for Dinklebot AKA DinkleGhost

     Several times Bungie has justified their alterations in patches by saying things like "this is not how we envisioned people playing Destiny". Perhaps a deep story line was not first on their "to-do" list when building the game. That might seem foolish, but there's plenty of opportunity for Bungie to expand upon the story in expansions, and boy I hope they do. I think their goal for this initial release was to get players hooked with the engrossing combat and online interaction with real life players- not NPC's. 

Seriously, the combat is awesome. 

     I'm not trying to defend the dialogue here either. I'm not saying "I don't even have to tell you why I don't even have time to tell you right now" or "I could tell you tales about tales or tell tales yadda yadda yadda" are remotely close to sufficient literary devices. Since Bungie has previously given us the Halo series, some of the most in-depth game lore in recent memory, players simply couldn't accept that Destiny didn't have any story to be found. All I have to say is, trust me, the story is coming and you probably won't find out what it is by listening to jibberish from a Dreg. Or maybe I'll be eating my shorts come Christmas when the expansion is out. Only time will tell.

"The Traveler is actually Pluto, and it's a PLANET!" 

Keep it locked on the Round_2 Facebook page for more articles, updates, videos, streams and life advice in the future. Seriously.