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David Szymanski - Dusk (2018)

 

Developer: David Szymanski
Console: PC, Steam, GOG
Game Release Date: 2018-12-10

I'm actually doing a whole bunch of posts ahead of time now. I just feel the drive to write about a whole bunch of games. I'm already 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I don't mind though. The original plan was to keep writing until I got bored of making posts so while I can I will write. 

Dusk is a great game. It was developed by David Szymanski and published by New Blood Interactive. 
Dusk is a horror FPS in the same fast paced vain as the Doom series and a lot of Build Engine games. It's an old school run and gun shooter that was only released a few years ago for most major PC game retailers. The story follows an unnamed treasure hunter who ventures into a small town in Pennsylvania. The entire town has been cordoned off by the military and effectively shut down. The game follows the hunter as he searches for treasure and ends up embroiled in a cult and old gods. The game features many lovecraftian elements and becomes one of the few games I can say actually pulls those elements off right. 

Each level features an onslaught of twisted enemies such as cult members in white hoods, demented burlap sack wearing farmers and many more. The best one was the Wendigo. The level he first appeared in was so exciting for me. I knew something was coming but an enemy like that? Woah! Any time a wendigo appeared it instantly made the level better. 

The game also had an amazing rolling mechanic that while not a huge thing I loved fiddling with as I ran through the level. Some of the designs such as Escher Labs and that entire city in Episode 3 were phenomenal. It reminded me a lot of the Doom PWADs I used to play but without the limitations of the Build Engine. Every level had a unique and beautifully gothic designs. I don't want to spoil too much about the ending but the final two levels were phenomenal. A 10/10 way to end the game. 

This is really just a game you need to play yourself. It's got things like epic boss fights, time stop, a huge arsensel of weapons, secrets everywhere, secret levels, huge variety of enemies, kickass soundtrack and more. The only place that I found way too difficult was the level that has the crocodile as a boss immediately followed by the rocket ladies. I was unaware that you couldn't leave that area until you beat the boss and entered it at way too low health. 

The game for a bit was my 3rd place GOTY but got beat out by a small margin by Shifters. If I redid it I may switch them around. Idk. If you liked the Doom series and wished the latest Doom games didn't go realistic 3D then play this. You won't regret it. 

Now this is a music focused blog and I would write some thing about the soundtrack but aside from a few tracks I didn't really listen to it during my run. My sister has been playing the game and now I'm just hearing some of the tracks. When I did my initial run I was still high off the bars from You Are Empty and was still in the mood for some darker sounding hip hop and horrorcore. 

lmntl819 & Reindeer - Views From The Psychedelik Deathcab (2009)

A record I have been aware about for some time now. I just haven't actually sat down and listened to it. Before listening I was not familiar with either artist. The album uses this very gothic and chamber-like sound with lmntl819's somber, melancholic production adn Reindeer's asynchronous and wonky flows. The cloest rapper I can say has a similar flow is Hizkit and even then guy is still much different. I had to check more of Reindeer's stuff after this and I loved it. The best track was the posse cut featuring Filkoe, James P. Honey, Edison, Evak-1, The BeastMaster, Babelfishh, Mildew and Swordplay with each emcee taking turns going over this dark cinematic beat. My only issue is that the vocals are mixed too low. This album desparately needs a remastering and that would give it the potential to reach so much more people. I played this album during the entirety of Neobabel. It's epic and deadpan production and delivery fit perfectly with the wide open expanse the level offers. 

Fated Empire - Fated Empire Album (2014)

I've known about Graves33 from his work on the Wings and Wounds project. I was looking for some of his work when I came upon this album, also featuring the other half of Wings and Wounds plus a number of other artists. I figure this was some sort of collective. This album features a similar gothic sound, incredibly abstract and dark lyrics as well as a similar chamber music influence to as above. I played it during Blood and Bone and the dark passageways along with Graves and Sarx's ominous and sometime frightening lyrics fit perfectly. The best track was Chemical Change featuring Heretic Skeptic and Name Clone (aka Shark Dentures). That has to be one of the best abstract songs made. 

Scvtterbrvin - Grand Theft Audio IV (2020)

Scvtterbrvin is a rapper I have known about for a long time now. I just haven't dove into his rap stuff as much as I have his instrumental work. I am much more familiar with his work as Infinity Gauntlet (the Nuclear Holocaust series are some good beat tapes). I like his jagged and almost amateur-ish flow. Before I even sat down with this record I knew I was going to enjoy it. Scvtterbrvin raps over a bunch of borrowed and interesting production from BBNG and Ewonee. It's just full of good tracks from the apocalpyitc and dystopian opener Psychedelic Parliament to the racial-heavy song Brown Bastards to the loungey, lo-fi occult rap song Lost Poet. I played this during Fire and Ice. The urban raps and constantly changing sound fit in well with the bizarre and unusual architecture of the area. 

I'll admit that I haven't heard a lot of the games music but if you like the Doom and Quake soundtracks you will love this. It's industrial metal, thrash metal and generally intense, heavy music. The soundtrack was composed by Andrew Hulshult who did an excellent job. I will be linking it below. 

Other albums not listed here that went well were LowKey Somnolent - Creep Town (2020), Oldominion - Zero (2009) and E3M3: City of Shadows with WWWINGS - PHOENIXXX (2016). Both very good but I don't want to spend too much time on each of these albums. Addendum post at some point. 


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