Once you get enough money you can start investing in skills for yourself. You can also sell them or even for a price convert them into a blueprint to see if you can get a better bonus off of that part. If you do survive, and hopefully you do, you can go into your hangar and put those shiny new pieces on your ship. None of which that you can use right away and have to survive to be able to utilize any of your hard earned loot. So instead of racing to get the powerup across the screen you race towards credits, parts, and blueprints. It takes a hold of the action RPG element of having loot drop and makes it work. The majority of shmups are similar in the way you get stronger in your journey, you pick up powerups within the level and hope to not get hit or not die so that you’d lose those powerups. The people at Alkemi somehow mixed the genre of action RPG into a shmup, and not only that but added a decent story with somewhat interesting characters. I’ve been wasting some time with the classic Gradius recently so I was fully ready to embrace the shmup side of things….My body was not ready for this. I’d still recommend checking out Drifting Lands however, it’s a neat concept and there’s enough here that you’ll easily squeeze some enjoyment out of the components that work.Upon starting Drifting Lands I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I think a lot of the ARPG mechanics are solid right out of the gate, but I wish the shoot-em up side of the game was just a little flashier, more diverse, and overall just more enjoyable to play. Still, there’s definitely things that work in Drifting Lands, and I’d love to see this idea refined a bit more down the road. They’re mostly bullet sponges with different bullet patterns, and don’t do enough to stand out from the standard enemy ships. Likewise, boss fights are too few and far between, and lack any real meaningful unique mechanics or designs. I suppose for new players this will help them focus on the bullet dodging, but it really makes the overall design feel a little too bland, which is unfortunate. You’ll see the same background recycled a lot, and there is no terrain or other obstacles to navigate. Stages are essentially just a background image, which unfortunately there are not enough of. But the biggest drawback for me is the really bland stage design and lack of significant boss fights. The enemy ship designs are solid, and will change their attack patterns up as you play, which in turn will keep you on your toes. So if you re-do a stage for whatever reason, you’ll not seem the same waves over and over again. The various skills definitely help to keep the combat feel fresh, but it wasn’t enough to keep me completely entertained.Įnemy ships fly in from various directions as you move forward, and the game seems to procedurally generate the enemies you’ll encounter. Depending on your skill builds, you can either deflect bullets, engage temporary invincibility, slow down time, and so on. The controls are fine, you’ll have little issue navigating your diminutive ship around enemy bullets as the stage scrolls sideways. Unfortunately, the action shooter side of the game is a little less impressive. This is clearly the best aspect of Drifting Lands, and works really well within a shoot-em up shell. Finally, there are a number of special skills you can equip, essentially allowing you to create a number of various builds centered around defense, evasion, melee, and so on. To go along with that, you can spend in-game currency to enhance three core skills, which also dictates what gear you can equip. Gear has different degrees of rarity, which in turn will grant additional bonus stats as you move up in tiers. The game features three different ship classes, and a number of slots to equip gear between each ship. Instead, you’ll easily be impressed with the diverse amount of loot and customization options at your disposal. The story progresses via dialogue boxes and still characters placed against different backgrounds, so there’s a little lacking in the overall presentation.īut, ideally, you’re not coming to Drifting Lands for the plot. The actual plot is a little light and not very flashy, so much so that it failed to capture my attention very well. The story premise for Drifting Lands is relatively basic, you’re banded together with a group of independents and mercs, featuring drama and conflict when it comes to leadership and overall goals. And as a huge Diablo fan, that’s definitely a good thing. While the SHMUP side of the game falls more into the bullet-hell style of shooter, the ARPG mechanics, particularly the loot, are very reminiscent of the ever-popular Diablo franchise. Have you ever heard of an action RPG Shoot-em up? Well, now you have, with the release of Drifting Lands on PC, which came out of Early Access earlier this month.
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It wasn’t long before conservative politicians hijacked the liberal rocker’s poetry, making “Pink Houses” a microcosm of Mellencamp’s career - and, ironically, the creative equivalent of building a pretty pink house only to have someone come along and jam a highway in its front yard. “Ain’t that America,” the chorus’ kumbaya line, aimed to register the cynical disappointment of “ain’t that some bullshit.” Most people simply heard “America,” tuned out the sarcasm, and unfurled the flag. What the artist intended as a folk-pop lesson about class, race, and surviving in America on a steady diet of shit sandwiches, audiences received as a red-white-and-blue, agit- pop anthem. The number is easily among Mellencamp’s best, and remains an FM standard four decades after its release. “My best songs,” Mellencamp told Fresh Air’s Terry Gross in 2009, “are just given to me from someplace outside myself.” Rolling Stone considers “Pink Houses” to be one of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, listing it at 447 where it falls between 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” (448) and Salt ‘n Peppa’s “Push It” (446). “Pink Houses,” its best-performing single, peaked at No. Three of its nine songs went on to become Top 20 hits. Mellencamp released Uh-Huh, his seventh studio album and the first in which he had dropped the ill-advised, manager-imposed “Cougar” from his name, in the fall of 1983. I looked down and saw this old man, early in the morning, sitting on the porch of his pink shack with a cat in his arms. It was at a highway interchange in Indianapolis. A black guy was sitting in front of a pink house, and that’s all there was to it. The song was an unlikely MTV staple during the cable cultural giant’s glitzy pubescence, but it was far less flamboyant than the standard video fare. In the 1980s, the singer-songwriter from small-town Seymour, Indiana, visited a stretch of I-65 on Indianapolis’ northwest side and came away with the inspiration for “Pink Houses,” a lunch-pail critique of the American dream. bzbplAnfqOĮven during the rah-rah Reagan era, Mellencamp didn’t. Sadly, neither was the Young American Foundation account, which didn’t seem to comprehend basic American history-or at least was happy to ignore it. Predictably, Buttigieg was mocked by conservative politicians and groups, including Young America’s Foundation, which shared a photo of the former South Bend mayor with the money quote from the Grio interview on social media. President Joe Biden has proposed $1.9 trillion in infrastructure spending, including $20 billion for an initiative that would “reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments.” In an interview with The Grio, Buttigieg explained “there is racism physically built into some of our highways,” citing examples of roadway construction that was intentionally routed through existing Black and brown neighborhoods in the 1950s and 1960s. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. It’s taken 38 years, but White America has finally returned to the interstate running through the Black man’s front yard in John Mellencamp’s “Pink Houses.” You remember-the one where “he thinks he’s got it so good.” Turns out he doesn’t, at least according to another Hoosier-former presidential candidate and now U.S. Just seeing Jerry Garcia and the band in their energetic youth helps the later. The deal was negotiated by WME Global on behalf of the filmmakers. The history: At the heart of this movie is the history of the Grateful Dead. Here’s the movie….” Hart added of the film, “Stranger than fiction - a user’s guide for an impossible journey.” Weir commented: “Over several decades a group of guys hung together making music in a group that was way tighter and lasted much longer than most marriages. This film will entertain and educate audiences about one of the most innovative and groundbreaking American bands of the 20th century.” They were a cultural force - a lifestyle, that continue to influence new generations of fans. “They are revolutionary artists who forever changed the world of touring and recording live music. “I’ve always admired the spirit and creativity of the Grateful Dead,” said Scorsese. Martin Scorsese, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Rick Yorn, Tom Mangan, Alicia Sams, Andy Heller and Sandy Heller, as well as Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, are executive producers.īand members Kreutzmann, Hart and Weir, as well as Trixie Garcia will be in attendance at the film’s world premiere at Sundance. Executive-produced by Bill Kreutzmann and Hart, Let There Be Drums also features members of the Grateful Dead extended family, including Jay Lane of Ratdog, and Bobby Weir and the Wolf. Additional producers include Justin Kreutzmann and Ken Dornstein. 'Dead Sound,' an audio documentary produced by CBS News Radio, follows how the psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead developed technology and techniques used in. Sundance Hot List: 17 Movies That Will SellĮric Eisner, Nick Koskoff, Alex Blavatnik produced and financed the film. |