Days Gone

This weekend was different from most, and what I anticipate becoming more the norm – relaxing, adventuring, exploring, and did I mention relaxing? As loyal readers will know, yesterday Jenn and I went off on an adventure on my motorcycle. I didn't do much else except release a RebelRebel podcast episode, tidy up code on this website, and clean magpie poop off my motorcycle.

Today I did more of the same. Not the poop part. But I did edit together a short video from our trip yesterday and plan the next week of RebelRebel releases – we're behind getting them out into the world and I plan to rectify that. And then, because I adulted so hard, I got back to playing a video game I've been pecking away at on the PS5.

Around one o'clock, Jenn and I jumped back on the bike to see a play at one of our favourite theatres, an off-Broadway-style company called "The Theatre." We saw a three-member cast in the Canadian debut of "Ulster American." It was fantastic; the show and The Theatre will certainly be a post for another day.

Today it is about video games.

I don't often allow myself time to play, and even less often do I find a game I really get into. Rarer still do I find games I need to finish.

Assassin's Creed has been a favourite. Executed. Wolfenstein? Liberated. Fallout? Fell for it. Far Cry? Heard it loud and clear. Elden Ring? Can suck it. I have no idea how much of that game is left to play and I don't care, even a little. Which is funny, because I still get at least 10 people every day finding my blog article "What happens when I die in Elden Ring?"

Today I finished "Days Gone," a post-apocalyptic biker story about the search for my (Deacon's) missing wife, Sarah. There are motorcycles, guns, bombs, more motorcycles, plot twists, nuclear bears, zombies called “Freakers,” and the most unnerving bit of gameplay, which I still suck at: dealing with Zombie Hordes™.

Hordes number in the hundreds. Not one hundred. Many hundreds, with a soundtrack that loosens bowels. It’s terrifying.

I found the game to be immensely enjoyable, if maddening, because I could never find enough growlers with which to make napalm Molotov cocktails. I could find damn near everything else, including an unreasonable number of ears, which turn out to be in-game currency. What's not to love?

And in a cruel twist, your motorcycle can run out of fuel. Just as in life, you then need to push it, sometimes through a gauntlet of undead babies called "newts," to the nearest gas station or jerry can. Sometimes games can get a little too real.

No spoilers here, but I will say this for anyone who needs a hand getting through a level: "attractors" are one of the best things you can craft, super handy to set and attract larger numbers of zombies into a small area so you can napalm-bomb them. And wherever you find yourself surrounded or besieged by large numbers of the undead, there is almost always a choke point or a place where you can stage your defence.

And when you are done, and have won the day, all of the ears are conveniently in one place. Collect 'em all and then go get your motorcycle that fancy paint job you've always wanted.