Raycevick Recommends: August 2019

American Vandal

University wasn't long for me. Got in, and got out. Though that's not meant to suggest I didn't learn anything, nor do I not carry its lessons to this day, and having spent University in a Documentary Studies course, American Vandal was a treat.

It has all the styling, pacing, and tone of a Documentary leagues above a Highschooler's pay grade, but for a high-school situation, and the result is something that while it might not be for everyone, certainly had me laughing through every Episode I've seen.

Strange Brigade by Rebellion

There's been lots of conversation surrounding Wolfenstein: Youngblood. That it's emphasis on lighthearted co-op fun isn't executed nearly well enough to warrant sacrificing the franchise's qualities. Personally, I've found the game to be more mediocre than awful, but that doesn't matter too much because I've around found an alternative.

Strange Brigade's light-hearted tone is endearing and charming, with its narrator in particular turning me from doubtful critic to a laughing player within the opening levels, and it's gameplay loop is simple, but effective and engaging due to how good its weapons, movement, and pacing feels. Had I known I would've enjoyed this game with friends as much as I had, I wouldn't have balked at the price-tag. To make up though, friends and I have already bought the DLC, as well as the zombie co-op adventure that inspired Strange Brigade, the Sniper Elite Zombie Army Trilogy.

You'll Be Fine by Palaye Royale

I've got Marilyn Manson, KMFDM, Nine Inch Nails, Chevelle, and a load of other bands to go to when I just want to lose my mind to the wonderful tone of distorted guitars. But all those names I mentioned are decades old, and many recent acts just don't do it for me, even the ones that do like Heaven's Basement don't last.

We'll have to see if that's the case for Palaye Royale, but within one song I've already got their two albums on the Spotify backburner. The chorus is utterly infectious, and just makes me want to go pedal to the metal in the desert firing a machine-gun into the sky.

...What? I'm an adult.