Crimson Desert's Kliff McDuff vs. Bugs Who, With Enough DLSS 5 Applied, Might Be Too Hot To Murder
With Crimson Desert releasing this week, it seems as though everyone is gearing up for another epic open world adventure to help whisk them away from a real-world reality which, as I currently speak, is an absolute fucking fiasco. Somebody please turn it off.
I've been seeing lots of chatter about this game's map size (it's twice as humongous as RDR2, don't you know, with some online soothsayers suggesting it could be up to 215km SQUARED), so likely it's gonna be a big-ass thing to dig into, and a nightmare to consider finishing, that's for sure. Man, I'm tired. But it gets the people going, this huge map shit, including my big baldy self.
There aren't any reviews of Crimson Desert out yet, but previews have been positive, it looks absolutely incredible from what I've seen, and all jesting aside I'm excited about it.
Also, Pearl Abyss has already shown it can produce fantastic stuff on a comparatively small budget (that's right, I have been a Black Desert Online enjoyer in my life), and this game is the dev's passion project, apparently. So I have a feeling...and I'll no doubt be proven wrong tomorrow, but I have a feeling this is gonna be a good one. Special even.
However. Listen. There's another game out this week that has gone and thrown a bit of a bug-shaped wrench into the inner workings of my best-laid "auld da tries to find time to play and complete enormous South Korean fantasy about a guy called Kliff" plans. Yes, it's Thomas & Friends™ Wonder of Sodor!
Hold up. Sorry. It's actually Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War. An easy mistake to make.
Why didn't I know this was gonna be good? I mean, good enough to the point that I'm thinking Crimson is gonna have to really "bring the ruckus" as I once heard a fellow bellow, if it wants to knock me off enjoying this bug-splatter fest over the coming weekend.
What was I even thinking trying to ignore it in the first place? First of all, it's by Auroch - who delivered unto us the incredible Warhammer:40,000 Boltgun a few years back, and so this is sort of like a slightly-less-retro-styled homage to Starship Troopers in the same kinda vein. A very good thing because these folks know how to make a goddamn shooter. Yes they do.
So, it's got Starship Troopers in it, because that's what it's about (excellent shit), it's got massive bugs (excellent shit AND a great way to fill your belly for cheap). It's also got loads of guns and shooting and stuff blowing up. Which, it seems, is 100% all the rage right now (see end of first para).
There's a demo on Steam (but not for the console version, as of yet) and it's just one of those things that's immediately a whole lot of moment-to-moment fun. A game that is a game that wants to be a game because that's what it fucking is, baby. Heck, it even wants to look like a game.
This has got me thinking, actually, that this new DLSS5 shite that everyone is rightly laughing (and then weeping) over online...it would turn this game into a horror beyond horrors. Blowing chunks out of giant and fully realistic bugs that you're kind of meant to want to shag because someone made their face look fucking weird. That sort of thing.
Starship Troopers Ultimate Bug War has surprised me, as well, because it lets you play as a bug with a little bit of strategy at points to mix things up during a single player campaign that, a few hours in, I am really enjoying. Thanks.
Will I be able to finish it in time to start Crimson Desert without anything else hanging over me? Absolutely not, I shouldn't think. Will it have the power in its closing sections to keep me off the incoming hotness from Pearl Abyss until I wrap it up? I guess I'll find out when I give Crimson Desert a shot tomorrow at 10pm UK time.
Namaste 🙏