#TGCChad

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REVIEW | Cat Pipes (Nintendo Switch)

My morning routine involves making sure I complete a lesson or two of Duolingo (Duolingo macht spaß!), then I have a crossword puzzle that I like to do. There’s no time limit, there’s no pressure. When it comes to these things, I am doing them for me as a way to engage my mind and bring myself out of the fog of sleep. Cat Pipes is the kind of game that fits in well with that morning routine. 

On first sight, Cat Pipes looks like a riff on the classic Assembly Line game, Pipe Mania (which was rereleased by Lucasfilm Games as Pipe Dream). However, the similarity is really only in the sense that the player is meant to connect a bunch of pathways together to link up the cats. There’s no time limit, no continuously speeding up music, no sense of foreboding leading to an overwhelming sense of anxiety that the cats might suddenly end up being covered in flooze and unable to find their way to the food and OH GOD NOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN??!!!

<embarrassed cough>

Cat Pipes is a simple to understand game that consists of 45 levels of varying difficulty to solve the puzzle. Early on, there is only one solution per level, but as the game progresses, I noticed that there were at least a couple possible solutions available with a bit of creativity. Each level begins with at least one block lit up red as a starting point, and the goal is to connect the different circles together with none left over. Most of the levels are pretty self explanatory and approaching each piece individually led me to pretty good success for the early part of the game. 

I was playing on the Nintendo Switch, so adjust your control layouts as necessary. The arrow keys allowed me to select a particular tile and the “a” button rotated the tile. The “x” button restarts the level, the “b” button returns you to the main menu, and the “y” button changes the background color. All of the controls worked the way they advertised and I didn’t have even the slightest issue with any of them. Being able to change the background color occasionally came in handy when my eyes needed a rest, and the “x” button was a good friend to me while working on level 17. (Everyone’s got that one level, you know?)

Playing in hand-held mode was quick and easy for the first 25 levels or so, after that, some of the puzzles became so complex that the tiles were too small for me to really be able to make out what I was doing and where I was needing to go. This is a mostly small quibble, but I couldn’t find any kind of zoom in button, though that may have made the problem worse as it would take away the ability to see how everything worked together.

Ultimately, this is a fine game. The puzzles are engaging, the music relaxing, the artwork adequate, and the general vibe of the game quite soothing. If you’re looking for a puzzle game that (probably) won’t make you tear your hair out, then Cat Pipes is a good choice.

GRADE: A

[geekcavepodcast]

Dark Winds Trailer

Dark Winds is set in the 1970′s Southwest. Joe Leaphorn and his new deputy Jim Chee are two Navajo police officers who are investigating a double murder when they find their own spiritual beliefs being challenged.

Dark Winds stars Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon, Jessica Matten, and Noah Emmerich. The series is based on Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee novels.

Dark Winds premieres on AMC on June 12, 2022.

[geekcavepodcast]

DC League of Super-Pets Spoiler-Free Review

It’s good.

That’s it. That’s pretty much the review. It’s good.

Fine...

DC League of Super-Pets is a family friendly take on a Justice League origin story that focuses on the pets of the various superheroes. At it’s heart lie two basic stories. The first story is the same as all Justice League origins; how will this team figure out how to work together? The second story, and the one that you may need to hash out with your kids later is, “What does love look like when our feelings are hurt?” This is a bit of an oversimplification, but the headline says, “Spoiler-Free.”

The voice actors do well in their various roles with Dwayne Johnson (Krypto) and Kevin Hart (Ace) doing their tasks well. Kate McKinnon hams up her role as the villain (Lulu) and Keanu Reeves may have some of the funniest early lines in the movie as Batman.

Other than some scary images toward the end of the movie and a seriously traumatic back-story for one of the characters, the movie focuses on being light-hearted and comedic. There’s not a ton of new stuff going on in the movie, but the stuff that is going on is done well. Make sure to read the news crawls whenever you see a television. Those jokes are gold.

A

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REVIEW | Amazon’s “Cinderella”

I hate that I like this!

The music is processed, the song choices are oftentimes laughable, the rap parts of the movie sound like they were written by someone who once heard about Hamilton from someone who only saw previews, the world of the movie is so stereotypical that it threatens to overtake satire and return to sincerity, and the subtext of the movie is so heavy handed that it may as well be holding a club...and I really liked it.

It’s the story of Cinderella, with a twist.

The story beats are essentially the same. A put-upon step-daughter desires to escape her basement life. She does not wish for marriage, however, but through financial independence. She designs and makes dresses, but this dream is frustrated by the patriarchal society in which she lives that prevents her from owning or operating a business.

At the same time, the prince is having difficulty finding someone that he connects with in order to get married, which makes the King irate as it’s messing with his legacy. One day, Ella catches the eye of the prince and he agrees to the concept of a ball providing that every eligible maiden in the kingdom is invited.

Ella wants to go to the ball, not for courtship purposes, but to network with nobility and perhaps find a patron that will finance or buy her dresses. On the day of the ball, however, her stepmother stains the new dress with ink and reveals that Ella has been promised to Thomas, a creepy AF tutor.

The Fabulous Godmother appears, takes one of Ella’s designs and dresses her in it and sends her to the ball. Two things happen, Ella meets a queen who is taken by her dress and wants to see more, and Ella seems to fall in love with the prince. Given the opportunity to marry him and join the nobility, Ella says “no” as it would mean giving up on her dreams.

Then some other stuff happens and the prince realizes that maybe he doesn’t need to be king, and they end up courting, though whether they are engaged or not is left unanswered.

So what sells this movie? I meant what I said above about my criticisms. They stand on their own; but the actors sell the hell out of this story. If even one actor didn’t buy in, the whole thing would have collapsed under the weight of its own messaging. Because everyone bought in, because everyone plays their part so well, the jokes are funnier, the pathos is more affective, and the predictable story beats are rendered comforting rather than irritating.

Look, it’s the story of Cinderella, we’re not expecting great changes to the story. Would I have liked more original music? Yes, I would. However, despite using songs by Queen, Madonna, and a mash-up of The White Stripes “7 Nation Army” with En Vogue’s “Whattaman,” the whole movie comes across as charming, upbeat, and optimistic. There are flaws to be sure, but every one of them can be overlooked by movie’s end, and despite every trailer park roundup commenting on it, I recommend this movie.

GRADE: B+

[geekcavepodcast]

Geek Cave Chat: The best TV Theme Songs

We've had some extra time on our hands with all of the social distancing, so we're launching a new podcast! Now you'll get some fresh audio content every week!

For this first "Geek Cave Chat," the guys answer a listener question about what they think is the best theme song of all time, including live-action, animation, and anime.

Got a question or suggestion for a future topic? Email us at GeekCavePodcast@gmail.com!

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“Spider-Man: Far From Home” Review

A Fitting Epilogue

Spider-Man: Far From Home may be the best Spider-Man movie that has yet been made. From Tom Holland as Peter/Spider-Man, to the locations, to the story, to Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio and beyond, everything seems to click just perfectly to make an excellent movie. Though spoilers will be avoided throughout the review, I believe this movie to be a well-constructed, well-acted, and worthy use of your time as either a Spider-Man fan, or a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fan.

The story is that after the events of Endgame, which saw everyone dusted return, there is a bit of struggle for everything to return to a sense of normalcy. Peter, along with a selection of classmates, are going on a school-sponsored trip that get to go to Europe. Peter wants nothing more than to have a break. He wants to put Spider-Man away for awhile and just be a 16 year-old kid. As happens in these movies, he can’t. Why? Well, in this case, because his trip is hijacked by Nick Fury who is pushing Peter to be an Avenger instead of a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man...oh, and because a bunch of giant monsters are wreaking havoc in Europe.

  Peter’s still grieving the loss of Tony Stark and is feeling the pressure to become the next Tony Stark. This is a lot to put on someone that blipped out of existence for 5 years, so when Quentin Beck (Mysterio) shows up from Earth 833 (I think) and offers Peter someone he can bond with on a hero level, Peter goes all in. Over the course of the movie, the fall-out of that decision reminds us that Peter Parker has two glaring weaknesses as a hero. 1) He is a 16-year-old kid that is yearning for direction and guidance and so his trust is too easily won by those who seem to offer that and 2) he is a 16-year-old kid with 16-year-old priorities, which means that he hasn’t yet figured out that he cannot have the “normal” life he desires and also be Spider-Man. There would have to be a new definition of normal. There is arguably a third weakness that has to do with crippling anxiety and self-doubt, but that may be reading into the character a bit too much.

Over the film, Peter has some highs and some lows until he defines his identity for himself. That is the real main idea of the movie. Who does Peter Parker think that Peter Parker should be? Homecoming was about Tony Stark enforcing the notion of a “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” and this movie has a lot of Nick Fury pushing to be an Avenger. This tension tears Peter up, and leads to some of the best emotional moments in the movie.

  Tom Holland is, once again, a revelation as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. To date, no one else has been able to believably capture both aspects of Peter’s life. That connection to the character continues here. Holland’s awkwardness with actress Zendaya (MJ) is so believable, one would think that he’s scared of her in real life. Their interactions as a young man with a crush are painful and funny for all the right reasons. This extends to the relationships with the other members of the school group.

Zendaya, as MJ, gets an expanded role in this movie and she uses it to great effect. It would have been so easy to slip into the stereotype of the “cool weird” girl, but Zendaya crushes that under her feet to give us a fully realized MJ that is as distinct as she is realistic.

  Jake Gyllenhaal is perfectly cast as Quentin Beck, a mysterious hero from Earth-833 that Peter’s School group dubs “Mysterio.” Charismatic, menacing, and calculating, this is one of the most fun villains that we’ve had since Justin Hammer (don’t shake your head at that, Sam Rockwell was amazing in that role). His heel turn, though anticipated, was well orchestrated and fun to watch.

  In a genre that is required to have action pieces, it becomes hard to stand out. Far From Home has excellent set pieces for those action moments, and I would commend Jon Watts for making sure that we didn’t get lost in the chaos. But it’s not the fight scenes that are really going to stick in your mind. The scenes that will stick are the ones in which Mysterio has turned his special effects directly on Spider-Man. (By the way, if you are thinking of bringing small children to this, you may want to do a pre-viewing to make sure they can handle it. Some of the nightmare sequences are pretty intense.)

 Anything more said is going to spoil the fun. Remember that there are two scenes at the end, one in the mid-credits and one at the end. These exist not only for fun, but to open the story first for Spider-Man (including one of the most unanticipated and delightful cameos in the MCU) and second for the possible direction of Phase 4.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is a wild ride that ticks all the necessary boxes for an excellent superhero film. Location, character, action, humor, and story all combine into a fitting epilogue to the first three phases of the MCU and does an admirable job of setting up where the next phase can go.

  Grade: A

~Chad

(Images from Spider-Man: Far From Home)

[geekcavepodcast]

“Big Mouth” Season 2 Review

          Big Mouth is one of those shows that one must experience to really understand. A kid’s-eye-view of puberty with the language and raw emotion may prove to be too much for many. That said, if you’ve got kids getting into that age, do yourself a favor and remember how awkward everything was and the terror of not fully understanding what is going on. Season 1 of Big Mouth was a blunt treatment of these awkward years that focused on those things that we now laugh about. Inappropriately timed erections and family encounters were the stock and trade of the first season. Whereas the first season dives into the physical areas of puberty, the second season takes us on a journey of emotion...and it’s hard to watch sometimes.

       The gang is back in the second season, from Andrew and his hormone monster “Maurice” to Jay and his propensity for masturbating with pillows. This being said, there are a couple of new characters as well. Gina is a new character (voiced by Gina Rodriguez) that begins as an object of desire before the show tells us in no uncertain terms that Gina is not an object and that what the girls of the show want is to be noticed, heard, and valued as people rather than “a pair of breasts.”

           The new character with the most screen-time is “The Shame Wizard.” Voiced by David Thewlis (Remus Lupin from Harry Potter), the Shame Wizard cultivates shame in the characters, supposedly as a way for the characters to realize that they want to be better than they are. You will likely love and hate this character if you stick with this show. When the Shame Wizard is banished for a short time, the importance of having shame is well and truly on display. (Oh my eyes!)

           The final new character of whom to take note is the Depression Kitty. Given life by Jean Smart (Dr. Ann Possible from Kim Possible), the Depression Kitty has a soothing voice that promises a character that she can lay down and eat ice cream and watch as many episodes of Friends as she wants, but it leads to what I can only describe as the most accurate visual portrayal of depression I have ever seen.

           There’s no real way to talk about plot and development without major spoilers. Did I enjoy the season? Mostly. This season is far more edgy than the last season in terms of its emotional development. As anyone who lived through puberty can attest, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows and this season leans into the darkness of not understanding life, body, relationships, or even what it means to be mature. Was the show too edgy for me? Sometimes. This season took me right to my challenge/threat line a couple of times. This isn’t to say that’s a negative as much as it is something of which to be aware. As a general rule, I don’t care for trigger warnings, but if they have their place, it’s probably in a completely optional source of entertainment. This show will deal with bi-sexualtiy, identity, shame, depression, abuse, drug use, infidelity, and will more than once show naked bodies. There is an entire episode that deals with planned parenthood that is as in-your-face as it is well researched and presented.

           I don’t know that I’ll watch this season as often as the previous season, but if you stick with it, the journey is worth taking. I would recommend not watching in two sittings, however, as a bit of process time would have been good for me.

 Grade--B

~Chad Savage

(Images from Big Mouth)

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Geek Cave PODCAST 102.3: MOVIES: The terrible Kissing Booth

This month, Chad eviscerates a direct-to-Netflix film which sends all the wrong signals, plus the latest news on Disney's now-complete merger with 21st Century Fox.

The Geek Cave Podcast is brought to you by GameStop and Shirtasaurus! (Thoughts and opinions expressed by the program's hosts do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors.)

If you liked this episode, feel free to check us out on TuneIn, iTunes, and Stitcher, and be sure to follow The Geek Cave family on Twitter and Facebook for giveaway opportunities!

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“Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy” Review

Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy is a study in contradiction. The game is really good, but is held back by its own adherence to the originals. The controls work just the same as they always did, but they also only work as they always did. The stories are good, but simplistic. The challenge is reasonable, but with particular spikes that are ridiculous. Overall, the good outweighs the bad, so let’s dive into the contradictory joy that is Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy.

To get the most critical piece out of the way first, the controls are beastly. You can choose to stick with the original controller set up or change it to the Reignited set-up, but that’s as much flexibility as you have. The Reignited set-up doesn’t change much outside of camera controls, but it is better than the original. Lacking the option to switch up x and y axis is frustrating, especially when the default is against what I consider natural. Furthermore, the controls just feel muddy. Moving Spyro around the world lacks precision (or has too much, I can’t quite tell). There were too many times that Spyro charged forward only to blow right past the enemy and into a wall. Before the camera could catch up, Spyro would have taken a hit. The camera is too slow for fast paced gaming, which is fine through most of the game, but then not during boss encounters. Enough grousing about this, though; expect the controls to have a learning curve, and you’ll still be frustrated, but not as much as I was.

As you may already know, this is not exactly a remaster of the original. Far from just a new coat of paint and upgraded sound, this is more of a remake of the original. The level design, enemy placement, plot, and even script are exactly the same as the originals, but instead of just smoothing out the ps1 era worlds, the games have been rebuilt to a glorious 1080p (on ps4 amateur) with details and upgrades that the original couldn’t even imagine. This is a game that now looks as amazing as any new property coming out this year. Water looks like water, fire looks like fire, and gnorcs look like gnorcs (it’s a fantasy, it’s not supposed to be photorealistic).

When it comes to the story, there’s nothing new that I noticed. The first game is still Spyro saving the dragons that have been turned to crystal by Gnasty Gnorc. The second game is Spyro saving the world of Avalar from Ripto, and the third game is Spyro saving the dragon eggs from the sorceress. The stories are simple, but how much motivation does one really need in a video game?

In terms of challenge, don’t expect much through the main levels of the game. The first game in particular has very little in terms of challenging gameplay with the exception of the flying levels. Someone is going to comment that these are the most fun parts of the game, and I will politely tell them that they can go fly a kite. These levels, during which Spyro is supposed to accomplish various things on a time limit are ridiculously difficult and necessary if you want to 100% the game. I gave up after about 17 tries and failures. These spikes in difficulty almost killed the first game for me. Luckily, they are optional and the next two games don’t have them in the same way. Those challenge levels are also punishing, but also more varied in their goals.

It’s challenging to come up with something to say that hasn’t already been said about Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy. For me, it comes down to this. I had fun playing it, but I probably won’t replay it. I look forward to the time that my child will be able to play it herself and I’ll be able to relive the joys and sorrows of the game through her eyes and experiences. Nostalgia carried the day for the first game, but great level design, beautiful artwork, and a low-stress gaming experience made the second two. If you’re still on the fence, I recommend it as a fun way to experience three of the great games of the ps1 era. Don’t expect much staying power after 100%, but getting there will test your resolve. 

Final grade: B+ 

Activision supplied a review copy to The Geek Cave Podcast.

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Geek Cave Podcast 97.3: MOVIES: Unpacking Lupin the 3rd

This month's Movies episode features a review of a 1979 Lupin the Third film, plus general shenanigans.

Ending credits music by Adolfo Baez.

The Geek Cave Podcast is brought to you by GameStop, Shirtasaurus, and Buzztime! (Thoughts and opinions expressed by the program's hosts do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors)

If you liked this episode, feel free to check us out on TuneIn, iTunes, and Stitcher, and be sure to follow The Geek Cave family on Twitter and Facebook for giveaway opportunities!

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REVIEW: The Long Gate

Dear Mr. Shaw,

I surrender.

After playing through as many levels as I possibly could through your game, “The Long Gate,” I have come to the conclusion that it has beaten me. This has little to do with your game and much to do with me and the way that I think.

Let me explain…

When I was dropped into the game (on Switch) and had only the controls to keep me company, I walked forward until finding this beautiful clearing, a gigantic door, and some kind of tool that would presumably help me moving forward. From this point, the game was on. Fumbling about, I ended up in another chamber, pushed a button, something happened, and then I fell into a pit.

Game over?

Not hardly.

Instead, I was given a puzzle. This puzzle was based on logic circuits. I thought to myself, “Great, I love this kind of stuff!”

The first few were great fun, I felt intelligent, accomplished even. Then it all came crashing down. It only took a few levels before I had to have more than a passing understanding of binary, and from that point, I was a chipmunk at a keyboard. Any progress made from that point was caused by luck rather than either skill or knowledge, and the game was over for me.

This game is amazingly put together. There is no motivation to play (no princess to save, no world ending cataclysm to avert) except for the puzzles themselves. Broken into three different styles (digital, analog, and quantum) the puzzles (at least the ones that I encountered) are well designed so that one can see the logic behind them. The visuals for the Switch port are a little fuzzy, giving the impression of a previous gen game. This is most obvious when one needs to read what a component is. The controls…could use some work. While playing, it was quite obvious that this was a game designed with a keyboard and mouse in mind.

A puzzler to the core, this game delights in being challenging, but not mean. It seems to assume a working knowledge of computer science, engineering, and binary. It doesn’t explain much of anything to you, and the easiest difficulty, the one that gives me hints, didn’t go quite far enough. At different times, I solved a bit of puzzle and had no earthly clue how it happened. If this happens to you, take my advice and walk the whole puzzle again until you do understand, because it is going to come up again. Each level is a tutorial for the next, or it’s an opportunity to vie for promotion. For me, I reached my level of incompetence at about the 4th level of each of the digital and analog areas. Given some time and space, I could probably figure some of them out, but my level of frustration outstripped my level of engagement.

If I could make one change to the game, it would be to have a balcony somewhere on each level so that one could get an overall view of the board. Trying to wire a circuit board in first person was terribly frustrating.

Is the game good? It’s hard for me to say. The controls at times have some hiccups, and the graphics are fuzzy. This is distracting but not breaking. The puzzles are challenging and build on one another, and are inventive enough to require a development of one’s logical processes. The expectation that a player will already know how these different circuits are supposed to work at the beginning of the game mean that the learning curve is steep from the very beginning. 

If you are mathematically and engineering minded, this game is likely a welcome puzzler. If not…well…it’s probably best to skip it.

I give it a solid B for challenging (and fair) puzzles that I am unprepared to logic through. 

I surrender.

~ Chad

[geekcavepodcast]

REVIEW | King of Seas (PS4)

King of Seas is an action role playing game set in a decidedly piratey world. The game involves you, the daughter (or son) of the king being taken in by pirates after being framed for killing your father. “Tis a standard set-up for a game and all the more that you need. What follows is a series of missions in order to get you some allies, solve the mystery and win the game.

The world is split into three factions, those being the pirates, the merchants and the navy. In this game, pirates are friendly, merchants are neutral, and the navy is hostile. Navigating around these three factions and between the many (many) islands took a good portion of my time in the game. As with my previously written reviews, I’ll line out what worked for me, what didn’t, and what improvements I would make if I could.

What worked for me?

Graphically, the game is relatively simple. Think a zoomed out version of The Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker. This plays to its strengths. You can also zoom in on the ship if you like, and see all the different details that have been put in. The character models may have you wondering how tight a corset can get (and how necessary they are on a pirate ship) but they wonderfully convey the kind of over-the-top world of the game.

The controls are simple but work flawlessly. Of the many, many…many ship battles that I lost, none of them could be attributed to the controls. You eventually gain access to 5 different ships with cannons and a huge number of special abilities that you can use to launch fireballs or summon a tornado. The customization is another strength of the game.

The side activities, trading and the like are pretty well thought out. Each port city has a marketplace, and each marketplace has products that can be bought for trade. Gold is the currency of the realm and you can make more by buying and selling across the world for a profit. This is how I bought my second ship. In the taverns of the various port cities you can pick up other side missions which usually involves finding a cartographer. This serves the dual purpose of making you some Gold and also revealing the map.

What didn’t?

The procedurally generated world isn’t bad, but it’s only procedurally generated in the sense that islands are not in the same place across different play-throughs. The map, though effective enough, is boring to look at. In its attempt to look like an old map of the long ago, it foregoes the blues of the sea in order to paint the water brown. The islands themselves are color coded to represent the different factions, but even they are muted greens and blues.

Bringing up Wind Waker again, do you remember the fish that filled out your map? He is now played by a cartographer that somehow winds up all over the map. For a price ranging from 500 gold to over 2000 gold, he will fill in your map for you. Unfortunately, that is all he does, and it is the only way to discover what is in the world. There is no provision for discovering or uncovering any part of the map for yourself.

Death sends you back to the starting base. This doesn’t seem so bad, though that depends a great deal on where the procedural generation puts your base. Mine was in the bottom left of the map. So if I died, I respawned in a place that was often as far away as I could get from anything. Once you start taking over ports (about ¾ of the way through the game) then you get to respond at your nearest port, but by then I was dying far less.

Going back to the side mission stuff again, this serves as a dual good and bad. The missions are nice for the first few hours, and then they get rather repetitive. Once I had unlocked the entirety of the map, it was a lot less fun to find the cartographer again so that Cubby could apply to be an apprentice…again.

The controls are still great, but the ships you use are just a little too realistic in their handling (I know, weird critique). What I mean though is that it takes a really long time to build speed, slow down and turn. Enemies on the other hand, seem to have a rudder up on the handling of their ships. It was frustrating to be sunk again and again by a ship that should have had a harder time than I did in coming around.

What would I change?

More than anything else, if I could change one thing, it would be to add a mini-map. It breaks the games immersion if you have to pause the game every few minutes to find the island you’re looking for. I would even settle for a mark on the compass that indicated direction.

I would add fast travel. Even if it was simply back to base. With the wind, it still took about 10 minutes to sail home. This was with nothing in the way, no battles to fight or trading to do. Straight up sailing the map took 10 minutes. Against the wind it takes a good deal longer and the worlds is neither pretty enough nor interesting enough to warrant that kind of time.

Finally, I would include a manual with the download. It was incredibly frustrating as I was trying to outfit my ship to determine what the different aspects of the cannons were, or whether something was good or not. I could have better damage and longer range, but it would still be a red negative compared to what I had. Why? Because the rate of fire for what I was using was better. Thank you reddit for helping me learn how to play better.

Final impressions

This isn’t a bad game. There are the bones of a really enjoyable experience in there. Unfortunately, it is held back by a story that lacks any urgency and side missions that fall to repetition. If you enjoy being able to play a game that is relatively quiet, offers you a sandbox to find your own fun in, and boasting some well done (if mildly repetitive) piratey music, then Sea of Kings is probably up your alley. If you need a bit more direction in how to decipher things like health bars (there are three) or get frustrated by combat that seems somehow both slow and frantic at the same time, then it’s probably worth it to pick up the demo first.

As for me, I’m giving it a B+ for great controls, beautiful artwork, and some interesting mechanics.

[geekcavepodcast]

You Want Me to Watch WHAT? | Flash Gordon

There's no better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than watching a 1980s space opera, right?

Well, we're doing it anyway.

[geekcavepodcast]

You Want Me to Watch WHAT? | Heartbreak Ridge

Time to grab some popcorn, as Justin and Chad return with a new #WatchWHAT episode! This time, Chad chose Heartbreak Ridge, a 1986 American war film produced, directed, and starred by Clint Eastwood.

Our 2020 Extra Life campaign is live! Details at https://bit.ly/2GpdhOg

Have a suggestion? Email us at GeekCavePodcast@gmail.com!

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Darksiders 3 Gameplay Trailer

Fury makes her way through The Hollows and battles a Lava Brute in latest gameplay trailer for Darksiders III.

They are accepting preorders. TGCChad isn’t there yet, but he’s getting close. Darksiders III releases in 2018.

[geekcavepodcast]

You Want Me to Watch WHAT? | Oscar (1991)

The Geek Cave's Chad Savage and Justin White discuss the Sylvester Stallone comedy Oscar in the latest entry of our film review podcast series: "You Want Me To Watch What?"

Leave a comment with your movie picks and what you thought about the film if you've seen it!