Hey! Look! Listen!

On this episode we take a look at Half-Life, undoubtedly one of the most important, revolutionary games ever made. We discuss the radical method it used to weave its narrative, as well as the overall franchise's fascinating relationship with the growing technology of the game industry.

This week we are joined by a guest who is not quite as much of a gamer as we are these days, and use this as an opportunity to discuss the power that nostalgia has over gaming as a hobby. We reminisce about our own memories of growing up together playing games, and take a look at the medium from more of an "outsider's" perspective. All our episodes are pretty much driven by nostalgia, but this one's REALLY about nostalgia.

Is there anything quite as 90s as playing a 4-player multiplayer game that's based off of a Pierce Brosnan action movie, and everyone is sitting in the same room, hunched over a single television screen? On this episode, we take a hugely affectionate look back at the game that might just be the king of multiplayer on the Nintendo 64, and discuss whether or not it still manages to hold its title as the greatest game ever made that's based on a movie. 

Seven... That's an oddly specific number... But, yes! Sit back and enjoy a rundown of some of the best games that came out during the year of our Lord 2021. Pretty bad year all around, but it yielded some genuinely fantastic games. And here are seven of them!  

The 30-year-old Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge has long been regarded as a gaming classic, and a prime example of the "point-and-click adventure" genre. As such, it is the perfect game to examine with a fine tooth comb in order to analyze this always-niche, always-divisive gaming genre, and to pick out all the ways it can stumble and all the ways it absolutely soars. 

 

 

On this episode we talk about Naughty Dog's iconic, rip roaring Indiana Jones homage, Uncharted. We mostly chat about the main four games in the series, from their big action set pieces to their meditative quiet moments. But we also veer into other topics that relate to this expansive franchise. For example, Mark Wahlberg is brought up multiple times for some reason.

Final Fantasy is one of gaming's most enduring franchises, with over thirty years of history. Each game has its own personality, has left its own individual mark, has its own iteration of the giant yellow birds we know and love as Chocobos... So why not sit back and enjoy a foolhardy attempt to rank each entry of this colossal franchise in this jumbo-sized episode of Hey! Look! Listen! 

For the third time we take a look at the Metal Gear Solid series, delving into the 1960s-set prequel, Snake Eater. We talk about topics that range from eating frogs, to Bond theme songs, to killing old men by changing the clocks on our Playstation 2s. This is our 20th episode (kind of) and we'd like to thank everyone who's been listening to Hey! Look! Listen! and who have allowed us to chat about video games to such a silly degree. Go raibh míle maith agaibth! 

In late 2002, Capcom announced that they would be releasing a collection of five games with the goal of boosting sales for the Nintendo Gamecube. Each of these five games were wildly different from each other, and varied in overall quality, but all ended up being at the very least really interesting, weird games. One even ended up being an absolute masterpiece. Gather 'round for some good old reminiscing about this little pocket of gaming history.    

We continue our examination of the horrible world of The Last of Us by moving on to its much anticipated but eventually divisive sequel. We talk about the controversial narrative choices that Naughty Dog made with this next chapter, as well as the evolution of its brutally violent gameplay. And, from a safe distance and while wearing safety goggles, we ponder the reasons why a certain percentage of the fanbase just plain hated this game.