I ask the revolutionaries: where is that revolution? You've had four years since Biden was elected the first time, and you thought he was equally bad to fascist Trump back then. Where's the anti-fascist activity at?
Confusion Reigns After Biden Presents New "Ceasefire Proposal"
Biden says it's an Israeli proposal, but Netanyahu has yet to agree to it publicly.
"Biden may have employed constructive ambiguity about Israel’s position in order to bring the two sides closer to a deal," says Daniel Levy.
What's the guarantee, though, "that this is not just a 42-day hiatus followed by yet further death, killing, destruction that we still now see every day?”
But here I am, sitting with a big Alienware desktop, with an RTX 3090, connected to my 60-inch 4K TV. And I’ve said to myself for ages that I want that console experience in my living room.
Though it came out in 2018, Shadow of the Tomb Raider fits the bill. It does 4K easily, offers Vsync for a steady 30fps (which is all my TV can do at 4K), and has ray tracing to boot. I’m glad I went through with this because, as much as I usually prefer gaming on my desktop monitor, there’s just something about being on the couch with a gamepad and taking it all in.
It is magical.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider actually surprised me because I truly wasn’t prepared for this to be my favourite Tomb Raider game. I have a soft spot for Tomb Raider, the version released in 2013. And I also love Tomb Raider: Legend. As for the original trilogy, it’s all right for the time it was made, but it’s really rough around the edges as far as controls are concerned.
You know how bloody amazing it feels to have Tomb Raider focus on puzzles again? As much as I love the 2013 version of Tomb Raider, it felt at times like it was more Uncharted than Tomb Raider. And while there were aspects of combat every now and then, Lara Croft is doing what she does best: explore exotic environments, climb ledges, and solve mysteries.
Now I realize that certain “real fans” don’t like this game. Anything that isn’t exactly like the original trilogy is “wrong” to them. They complain about Lara Croft going “woke”.
But it’s not as though Lara Croft isn’t still the privileged Englishwoman that she is, and this game actually addresses this. In this game, Lara Croft summons the apocalypse. She knew the risks, but she still did what she did because she figured the bad guys would do worse.
Her sidekick, Jonah, even questions her actions. However, maybe the “real fans” don’t like it when people get uppity with Lara Croft. To me, though, this actually gives Lara something that wasn’t available in the original trilogy: depth.
Let’s be honest, the original Lara Croft was kind of a blank slate. She didn’t have much of a personality. The big appeal was that she was “hot” – ha! at least as hot as any low poly girl could be! – and that was enough for teenage boys to try Tomb Raider.
Well, with the entire Survivor Trilogy – which includes Tomb Raider (2013), Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider – Lara Croft is now a fully fleshed out character. And Shadow of the Tomb Raider really makes her compelling.
I already spoke about the visuals, which are amazing even now, but the art work really stands out. The temptation with so many Western developers is to go “gritty” and “real”. But when you enter those environments, you really fall in love with each destination. When I’m in Mexico, I’m just riveted by the sights. And when I’m hanging around Croft Manor, it feels glorious.
How about the sound. After finally getting my surround sound system sorted out, this was excellent. It felt cinematic. The voice actors did a great job.
Tomb Raider has always been one of my favourite video game series. I originally played it on my Bondi blue iMac, back when I was 17-years-old. Walking through those corridors, jumping from ledge to ledge, shooting wild bears who are attacking me – that was incredible.
Then 10 years ago, as I was returning to PC gaming again, I played Tomb Raider (2013) on my old 1080p TV. My wife and I both tag-teamed through that game during a weekend, eventually beating it. That was a great moment.
Today, all those moments came back. This time, my daughter watched me. It was special.
Through the decades, I’ve grown as a person. So has Lara. In a sense, we’ve grown together.
@atomicpoet I've heard good things about Tomb Raider, and I've heard good things about video games that make you feel kind of like you're in a movie... Does this feel like one of those? If anything, your comment on the visuals makes me especially curious, because I don't see many movies that take the "vibrant colors are still allowed" route
It's weird attributing the negative economic mood to partisan vibes when sentiment is down overall, even taking into account that Republicans feel worse ("Biden bad") and Democrats feel better ("Biden good").
But Democrats don't like polling averages either so who cares what people think, I guess.
@thomasfuchs@gwynnion I noticed how Netanyahu has promised to continue attacking Palestinians for just long enough to finish around the time of the American Presidential election too...
@mekkaokereke@stux It's actually a bit worse than that. If nobody follows your account from a particular server, or nobody sees a boost from your account, then it will be as if you don't exist there.
Federation happens in a lazy manner, with posts only getting pulled from other servers if they are required in order to fill in somebody else's follows.
And when that's the case, people looking for any words or hashtags you use will not be able to find them from their server.
@atomicpoet True. For some of my favorite media, I could pirate it easily, but I would much rather have a CD or DVD of whatever it happens to be. I have some older laserdiscs and VHS tapes just because they look shiny.
Pro-Terrorism logic establishes the main premise; that everything Western Society represents is evil, so therfore, all those opposing Democratic Advanced Nations are fighting a moral, enlightened, & necessary battles.
It's truly a Bizarro World of upside down logic, where depraved radicalized terrorists heroically Martyr their own women & children while Allah approvingly smiles from above.