#how is it march already goddamn give me time have some mercy on my soul

[fastianini]

i just realized motogp is already back NEXT WEEKEND

[hysterialevi]

Lotus pt. 1 (Batjokes)

Author’s note: Well, a lot more people were on board with this idea than I was expecting lmao I’m still kind of testing the waters right now, but I hope you guys like the story anyways and please, feel free to send feedback anytime. Enjoy! -Levi

From Waller’s POV

CITY HALL

“Secure the perimeter!” I ordered, sending agents scrambling all over the place. “Lethal force is authorized. Do whatever it takes to find the mayor. We CANNOT let that maniac kill him! Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Agent Fox,” I called out, marching towards her, “any updates on Wayne?”

She tapped her tablet a few times before responding, concern plastered all over her face. “My drones have scanned the building top to bottom, and it looks like Wayne’s trapped the mayor in his own office. He’s injured him pretty badly, but he hasn’t tried to kill him yet. It’s almost like he’s...waiting for something.”

I rubbed my chin in thought, the gears turning my head. “Why wouldn’t Wayne just shoot him? If he really wanted to kill the mayor, he would’ve done it already. No...this must be a trap. He wants our attention. He wanted the Agency to come here. These theatrics are nothing but bait. Well, we’ll worry about that later. Right now, our top priority is saving the Mayor. Understood?”

Tiffany gave me a firm nod. “Understood.”

“Good. Then let’s get to work.”

Tiffany let out a disappointed sigh, her head sinking with sorrow. I paused for a minute.

“Everything all right, agent?” I checked.

She frowned. “It’s just...I grew up with Bruce. He was always like family to me, and to my dad. I know he’s been mixed up with some shady people in the past, but never in a million years did I think he’d become like...this.” 

She gazed up at the night sky in a helpless manner, her shoulders drooping despondently. “God, what did that virus do to him...? What did we do to him? We should’ve just ended his misery when we had the chance. Bruce might not’ve been a saint, but he definitely didn’t deserve this.”

I was silent in response, earning an apology from Tiffany.

“I’m sorry, Director. I know I have to set my personal feelings aside. I can’t let them hinder my judgement when dealing with Bruce, no matter how close we used to be. I just wish it didn’t have to end like this.”

I folded my hands behind my back, softening the tone of my voice. “I understand, Tiffany. I don’t think there’s a single soul in Gotham who hasn’t been touched by Bruce somehow. It’s heartbreaking for all of us to witness what he’s become, friend or foe. Let’s just hope we’re able to put a stop to this madness before it’s too late. Gotham’s already on the brink of war with the Joker running about, and this pandemonium with Wayne certainly isn’t helping. It’s the Agency’s duty to act. Fast.”

“I’m ready when you’re ready.” Tiffany said, regaining composure.

“That’s what I like to hear, agent.”

Before we could continue with our plan any further however, the distant sound of an explosion suddenly erupted from the top of City Hall, causing every electronic within a five-block radius to shut down immediately. Streetlamps, billboards, indoor lights, pylons, all of it -- just dark. We were stuck in pitch blackness.

“What the hell just happened?” I blurted out, my voice echoing eerily. I quickly took out my pistol, checking its condition. The lights were red.

“Dammit,” I cursed, holstering the useless weapon. “That must’ve been an EMP blast. I see Wayne hasn’t given up on his old tactics. We’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.”

“Wait,” Tiffany said, showing me her tablet, “my devices have EMP shielding. They were able to survive the blast. I can still keep an eye on him while the other agents fetch the mayor.”

A sense of relief washed over me. “Good thinking. Things will be a hell of a lot harder without our tech, but at least we can monitor Wayne.”

Just as we were about to calm down a bit, the screen on Tiffany’s tablet began to glitch suddenly, bringing us back into panic mode as a broken, deformed voice came through the speaker. It sounded like Bruce. He must’ve been hacking her tech from City Hall.

“--Just as you always do.” He fired back, his tone low and stoic. “I figured the Agency would be experts at this by now. All you did for an entire week was monitor me. Watching, and waiting. Standing idly by as I rotted away...don’t deny that you relished it.”

I glared at the screen. “What do you want, Wayne?”

 “What do I want?” He repeated. “I’m surprised you ask. You didn’t seem to care back when I was suffering in your secret lab -- when all I wanted was a little mercy...”

A dark chuckle escaped Wayne’s lips. 

“But now that I’ve stoked the city’s fire with its own fuel, and sent your own organization crumbling around you...now you care. Because you’re afraid. Because you know what kind of a monster you’ve created, and you know what I’m capable of. Isn’t that right...Director?”

“Enough, Bruce,” I said firmly. “It’s time we settled this, but I want the mayor first. He’s not a part of this. Leave him out of it.”

Bruce laughed, though not in an amusing manner. “Even now, she still makes demands...when I’ve clearly got the upper hand. You’ll have to learn someday, Waller, that barking orders isn’t enough to push through life. Though, it can certainly push some people.” 

Bruce sighed in frustration. “Fine. You want your beloved mayor so much?” He was quiet for a second, probably setting something up.

“...then you can have him.”

Splitting the darkness, the upper floors of City Hall were illuminated with a single spotlight as one of the windows slid open from the inside, revealing Wayne himself. It was hard to see what he was doing from this distance, but it appeared as if he was hauling something quite heavy around. 

For a moment, I had no idea what that “something” could’ve been, but the minute Wayne hurled it over the window’s edge, and it caught on the rope holding it, I immediately felt my stomach churn. A unanimous gasp could be heard from the other agents, and everyone began murmuring as we tried to process what we were looking at.

Slowly turning to me with a horrified look and all the color drained from her face, Tiffany brought a hand over her mouth, nearly fainting on the spot.

She shook her head in disbelief. 

“Oh...oh, god.”

From Bruce’s POV

ONE WEEK AGO - WAYNE ENTERPRISES

Pain. Heat. Anger.

All of these things rushed through my body as I struggled to open my eyes, my vision doubled and blurry. My hearing was muffled except for a sharp ringing noise, and the room around me seemed to pulse in sync with the throbbing ache piercing my skull. It must’ve been from Harley’s hammer. 

I rubbed the side of my head, wincing at the touch. Goddamn. She really hit me hard. The woman herself however, was nowhere to be seen right now...and neither was her partner, “Joker.” I guessed they fled after knocking me out, leaving nothing but a trail of death behind them. 

Barely lifting my head, I saw the aftermath of John’s attack scattered all over the floor, making me want to gag. Along with the blood splatters and vomit staining the carpet, the room was also littered with fresh corpses -- both from mine and Joker’s side. They were all bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth, and a permanent expression of agony was stuck on their faces. It made my insides boil.

I could hardly believe it. Every. Single. One of my colleagues -- even Regina...was dead. Just like that. And for what? To get a point across? 

I felt a certain rage bubbling inside me -- the same one from when I first learned of my father’s criminal history. Not only was I angry, but I also felt betrayed. After all the things I gave him, after everything we went through...and this was how John repaid me? If I didn’t have a code against killing, I would’ve strangled the clown myself.

...But deep down, I knew I could never truly harm John. As much as I despised to admit it...I was in love with that freak-show. Something about John just...drew me to him. Like a moth to a flame. He was everything I ever wanted in person, but he was also everything I stood against. And to see him running around with someone else, to know that he did all of this purely because he hated me...to know this was my fault -- it made me feel helpless. 

How was I supposed to destroy something I helped build? Or hate something I loved? I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this lost, and to be honest, I just wanted to give up. I wanted to walk away from this city and never look back, but I knew I couldn’t. Not with Gotham counting on Batman. It needed him now more than ever, and I owed it to everyone who had died so far to save this city. Especially Lucius.

Pushing myself up from the table, my body turned out to be much weaker than I anticipated, causing me to collapse right onto the floor with a heavy thud. The fall certainly didn’t help with my headache or the ringing in my ears, but as soon as I made impact, I could hear a pair of frantic footsteps heading in my direction. It looked like a couple of agents, and both of them were protected with gas masks.

“Oh my god...!” one of them exclaimed. I recognized her voice. It was Avesta. 

“Blake,” she said, “he’s...he’s alive! Go find Director Waller! We need to get him out of here immediately!”

“Right. I’m on my way.” He bolted out of the board room in a heartbeat, leaving me alone with Iman as she gently secured her arms around me and lifted me into a sitting position. I groaned in pain.

“It’s okay, Bruce,” she reassured, looking into my eyes compassionately. “It’s okay. Waller’s here. We’ll get you somewhere safe. I promise. You’re going to be all right.”

Avesta cursed in a language I didn’t understand, muttering to herself. 

“...I thought you were dead. How are you alive...? Anyone touched by the Lotus virus is instantly killed. Could it be that you’re...? No...it must be the gas mask. But wait...”

She leaned forward, observing the mask John gave me.

“There’s a crack in the glass. It couldn’t have saved you. So what did?”

I took a breath, my lungs burning as I tried to speak. 

“What...” I coughed, “what are you...talking about...? What’s going on...?”

Avesta hesitated for a second and glanced around the room as if she’d find an answer hiding somewhere, unsure of how to break the news.

“Bruce,” she put a hand on my shoulder, barely able to make eye contact with me, “...I-I don’t know how to say this, and I don’t mean to frighten you, but...you’ve...you’ve been infected with the Lotus virus.”

My heart stopped. 

Lotus? As in the one Riddler and Freeze contracted? Shit.

I gulped out of fear, my chest beginning to feel tight as the news finally sunk in.

Oh, shit. No, no, no, NO. That couldn’t be right. Everyone else died the minute the virus was released. Why didn’t the same thing happen to me? I couldn’t be infected. It had to be from when Harley hit me. Surely, that was the reason why I was so weak. I wasn’t infected with...with Lotus...right? They had to be wrong. They had to be. Oh, god. What was I going to do? What was I going to tell Alfred?

“Bruce?” Avesta said, interrupting my thoughts. “...are you okay?”

I snapped back to reality and shook my head, looking at her desperately.

“Iman...please, you have to help me.”

She scooted closer. “Don’t worry, Bruce. That’s what we’re here for.”

“No...” I grit my teeth, the pain increasing with every second, “that’s not what I meant. I mean...you have to...” I trailed off for a moment, wondering if I should even ask this, “...you have to...kill me.”

Avesta almost seemed disgusted at the request. “What?” She backed away slightly. “No! No way, Bruce. I’m not going to do that.”

I persisted. “Look at me. I’m already a corpse, Iman. With the Lotus virus inside me, I’ll either end up dead...or insane. I don’t want to lose my mind. Please, just...just shoot me before that happens. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

The agent sighed morosely, still refusing to do what I asked.

“I’m sorry Bruce. I can’t. I understand you’re afraid, but the Agency needs you alive. The more we learn about this virus, the higher our chances are of curing you -- completely. I’m just curious about how on Earth you survived in the first place.”

“We’ll figure all that out later,” Waller dismissed as she marched into the room. “For now though, we just need to focus on getting Wayne to the lab. He may be alive, but he’s in a critical condition. And it’ll only worsen if he stays here. Not to mention it’s a risk to us as well.”

Avesta nodded, helping me to my feet. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good, then let’s get a move on. We have no time to waste.”

Waller brought her attention to the other agents, ordering them around and giving commands whilst Avesta lugged me away from the grotesque scene, both of us still shocked at what’s unfolded. 

“I want bio-scans on Wayne as soon as possible,” Waller shouted behind us. “Learn everything you can about the virus, and do NOT let him leave his cell once he’s locked in. We don’t know how fast this virus can spread, and I certainly don’t want to find out.”

I turned to Avesta, croaking out a few words with what little energy I had left.

“...you’re...putting me...in a cell...?”

She gave me an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry, Bruce. It’s the only way we can contain the virus.”

I still wasn’t entirely sure about the idea.

“But the city needs me,” I protested, coughing faintly, “...it needs...B-batman...”

Avesta gestured to me. “Look at yourself, Bruce. You can barely walk, and Batman’s no use to the city if he can’t fight. You need to rest.”

“...but...but...I...”

Before I could even talk anymore, the edges my vision suddenly began to darken once again and the world felt like it had fallen from underneath my feet, swirling around me in a sickly manner. I started to slip from Iman’s grasp.

“Bruce...?” Avesta’s voice bounced off the walls of my head, muffling more and more.

I crashed onto the floor and went limp, a dozen agents instantly clamoring over to me as my brain shut down and everything went black. What was going on? Was I...was I dying? Was the virus finally taking its toll? Had my wish been granted? 

I closed my eyes and willingly let the virus’s cold clutch steal me away from consciousness, my entire body going numb as I fell into Limbo. Despite all the panic that was happening around me, I somehow remained calm, and even welcomed this sensation that I mistook as death, greeting it with open arms. 

All my fear, hatred, rage, love, everything...it was just...gone. I felt lifeless, and yet, I had never been more alive. It was as if my soul had floated away from my body and was now watching from afar, waiting to see what I’d do next before meeting it on the other side. 

I didn’t know what the Agency had planned for me, or how I was going to be affected by this virus, but there was one thing I knew for sure. No matter what happened in the future, or how much torment I would have to endure, Gotham was never going to be the same again. And neither was I.

[entergamingxp]

DOOM Eternal is Eternally Glorious, and I Can’t Wait to Return to Hell

February 4, 2020 1:00 PM EST

They are rage. Brutal, without mercy. But you…you will be worse. Rip and tear…until the wait for DOOM Eternal is DONE.

I am so goddamn ready for DOOM Eternal.

I’m old enough to remember a time when the first-person shooter genre had yet to be coined. Instead, all FPS games were DOOM Clones: such was the original DOOM‘s legacy. From the weapons, to the enemies, to the labyrinthine levels, DOOM is iconic. Any piece of technology, no matter of how advanced or how esoteric, will inevitably be asked the question of “Can you run DOOM on it though?”

From the very beginning, DOOM was an unrelenting, unrepentant romp in which you traverse sci-fi hellscapes and blast demons apart. There’s no real story, just an excuse for a plot of silliness to complement such a ridiculous premise. That’s all it needed to be: an excuse to shoot demons and have fun. Having just recently played through Ultimate DOOM again with a friend, I can assure you that it still holds up all these years later.

Such a legacy was a tough act to follow, and so id Software did so only sparingly. DOOM 2 — and DOOM 64 to a lesser extent — built on the original title with solid improvements. DOOM 3 followed almost a decade later, and was a slower affair that leaned more into a feeling of horror and tension. It definitely has its fans, but one would be hard pressed to say it really captured the appeal of the original pair of games.

Afterwards, the franchise lay dormant for almost a decade before DOOM 2016 finally surfaced from development hell. And while the responses and reception to it have been largely positive, the original reveals prior to release weren’t so favorable. Early builds and playtests felt that the game was a bit slow, so this was fixed for the game’s release. Those final steps and adjustments in the last months may very well have saved the game.

IN THE FIRST AGE… IN THE FIRST BATTLE… WHEN THE SHADOWS FIRST LENGTHENED… ONE STOOD.

DOOM 2016 is glorious. The presentation is immaculate, the soundtrack is fantastic, and the story is…pretty decent actually, though it’s hardly concerned with being a masterpiece of storytelling. Naturally, it’s the gameplay where DOOM 2016 truly excels. Unabashedly breaking conventions of the modern FPS, it encourages you to be aggressive and get into fights.

Gory and excessive Glory Kills reward getting in close for a quick finisher by showering you in health. Visceral chainsaw kills serve as a cooldown that pours out ammo drops. Levels feature plenty of verticality which enemies are quick to make use of, encouraging the player to be mobile to match. It’s also fairly well-paced in how it ramps up the challenge, enemy variety, weapon and power unlocks; this pacing continues to level design and how it gives the player moments of exploration and breathing room in between the high octane shooting galleries.

Now I need to play DOOM 2016 again. Once I finish this article, that’s where I’ll be. What better way to pass time until one of my most anticipated releases of 2020 becomes available…

THOSE THAT TASTED THE BITE OF HIS SWORD NAMED HIM…THE DOOM SLAYER.

This has been an eventful few weeks of high profile game delays. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was pushed back to April, and the April release of Cyberpunk 2077 is now in September. If anything, I’m actually grateful for this: the March – April span was already so stacked with killer releases despite this, so the breathing room provided will let me revel in DOOM Eternal as a nice warm-up!

Everything we have seen of DOOM Eternal gets me more excited to tackle it. id Software have stapled a whole bunch of extras and improvements on top of the already solid framework that is DOOM 2016. Let’s go through some together. New guns and equipment options? Check. A variety of demons and map settings? Check. New Glory kills and over the top moments? Given that we now have a shoulder-mounted flamethrower and a goddamn sword (after much plot teasing), double check! My checklist didn’t contain a grappling hook; id decided to give that to me anyway, further adding to the Slayer’s mobility options.

The sheer number of options and arsenal additions has me worried I’m not going to utilize everything to its full extent. As far as gameplay problems go, that’s a good one to have though. DOOM 2016’s pacing has me confident that it won’t be too much of an issue in Eternal.

Story hasn’t been a major consideration for DOOM up to this point, but Eternal is expanding on it somewhat. DOOM 2016 lacked in narrative but excelled in lore, hiding plenty of little details just below the surface to dig into. There certainly seems to be more going on in Eternal, even hinting at the involvement of Heaven. Fighting angels and going full Darksiders would definitely be a new direction for DOOM, that’s for sure. Regardless, there’s definitely some more story beats for those interested to chew on. Slaughtering hordes of enemies is still clearly the focus though; the gameplay is what we’re here for, and id Software knows it.

Adjustments made to the multiplayer modes also have me curious. I cared little for the multiplayer in DOOM 2016, but the 2v1 Battlemode looks like a clever addition to shake things up. Dark Souls-esque Invasions can now occur in the single-player campaign, letting players control the demons and mess with one another. These new features certainly capture the feeling of DOOM more than the now absent traditional deathmatch would, so I look forward to trying them out.

But with all that said…I’m here for the campaign. Slaughtering demons en masse, going wild with excessive weaponry, and overloading on testosterone: that’s what DOOM Eternal is offering for me. Given my tendency to dive deep into story-driven games and experience the full suite of creativity gaming can offer? It’ll be nice to just kick back, rack a shotgun, and go all in on intense gameplay for a time while blasting Mick Gordon’s finest heavy metal soundtracks. Bring it on, Hell.

DOOM Eternal is slated to release on March 20 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Stadia. Pre-ordering the game at Amazon will net you a copy of Doom 64 as well, plus a suite of cosmetic extras. There’s also slated to be a Nintendo Switch port of the game sometime after release. Rip and tear until it is done, fellow Slayers.

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February 4, 2020 1:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/02/doom-eternal-is-eternally-glorious-and-i-cant-wait-to-return-to-hell/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=doom-eternal-is-eternally-glorious-and-i-cant-wait-to-return-to-hell