Category Archives: Tech/Games

Tech/Games

‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’

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By: Weston Halgunseth

Quick Verdict

For me ‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ is a wonderfully written game that rewrites the modern id Software formula. By removing the fast and flying like feeling of the game ‘DOOM Eternal’, ‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ gives us a tankier combat style. It gives a prequel that feels both new and familiar to the older games. For people like me that love action packed games, this game is a must play. If I had to rate it I’d give it a 9/10.

Introduction

When id Software gave us the ‘Doom’ story back in 2016 they taught us how to fight. In ‘DOOM Eternal’, they taught us how to fly. But in ‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ they take us back to the very start of the story. Throwing us into a dark sci-fi fantasy prequel that tells us the story of the DOOM Slayer and his unfortunate line of fallen pets.

Stepping away from futuristic UAC facilities and neon-lit cities, ‘The Dark Ages’ drops players into a gritty metal infused medieval world that I was taken aback by a lot of the time. The Slayer is no longer just a fast-moving space marine, he is the embodiment of the ultimate weapon of the Sentinels. He battles through ruined castles, ancient forests, and eerie cosmic realms. The result is a crazy style change that fits the story into the franchise’s atmosphere but the visual differences from the previous games was very noticeable.

Combat & Gameplay

I think the biggest risk the developers at id Software had was the purposely slowing down of the game play and the Slayer. The double jumps and constant air dashes of previous games have been replaced with an intense sense of weight and power. You don’t just run around demons instead you ram right through them and tank their shots. In my opinion, this is a great shift they made that was the perfect amount of change they could have done.

The Shield Saw Revolution

One of the fan favorites, and my favorite weapon, was the new Shield Saw. It is worn on the Slayer’s left arm. It completely changes the rhythm of DOOMs combat. Instead of being close range you can be far and just throw your shield. For me, I loved this new weapon. It really helped with crowds of demons.

  • Perfect Parry: Timing a block against incoming attacks staggers enemies and leaves them open to devastating counterattacks which adds a feature that I loved to use a lot especially when fighting hordes.
  • Projectile Shredder: Revving up the shield and launching it into a crowd allows it to tear through lesser demons before snapping back to your arm made me feel like I was a more twisted version of Captain America.

A Medieval Arsenal

The new list of weapons I get to pick from perfectly matches the dark fantasy settings. While the iconic Loadout of the Slayer is good, this new one fits the theme perfectly. But they kept the super shotgun because what’s a Slayer game without a super shotgun. Some of my favorite new guns are the nail gun, and the steel ball launcher capable of breaking enemies armor easily which helped show that the DOOM Slayer’s presence is still there.

When the size of the war in ‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ reaches the most chaotic part, the game almost becomes cinematic. We pilot an Atlan mech which can take out skyscraper sized demons, and as a fire breathing drake with cybernetic wings that can take down ships 20x its size. Playing as these things made it super fun to play and become the most memorable spots to game for me.

World Building and Visuals

‘The Dark Ages’ does a fantastic job filling in the gaps of DOOM’s mythology. Seeing the early days of the Slayer’s rage and diving deeper into Sentinel lore gives the campaign a weight that previous games only hinted at through codex entries and text logs giving me more of a complete understanding of the lore behind the Slayer and why he is so rage filled.

Visually, the game is stunning. Powered by the id Tech 8 engine ‘The Dark Ages’ is a beast in scale. Massive battlefields often feature hundreds of active combatants fighting in the distance while you tear through enemies in the foreground. On PS5 the performance remained smooth and consistent, maintaining a strong frame rate even during the most chaotic encounters.

Honoring a Legendary Trilogy

To truly appreciate ‘The Dark Ages’ you have to look at the giants whose shoulders it stands upon.

‘DOOM’ (2016) was a insane return to form that reminded players why first-person shooters are so exciting. It perfectly balanced straight push forward combat with relentless action and atmosphere which is what made me love this trilogy and was the first time I saw what Doom was.

Then came ‘DOOM Eternal’, a lightning fast game of combat chess that pushed my skill and reflexes to their limits through demanding movement, resource management, and precision which was a struggle at times for me.

Both games are widely regarded as masterpieces of the modern FPS genre.

Rather than trying to copy either game ‘The Dark Ages’ serves as the perfect third pillar. It blends the raw atmosphere of ‘DOOM’ (2016) with the mechanical depth of ‘DOOM Eternal’ while removing much of the divisive platforming. The result is a game that stands proudly beside its predecessors and completes a modern trilogy where each game offers its own way to play.

The Pros and Cons

Pros

  • The Shield Saw is a brilliant addition that makes parrying feel like a blessing especially in big bosses where I’d struggle in. 
  • The dark fantasy art direction is stunning and gives the series a fresh new look.
  • The soundtrack is an absolute powerhouse and perfectly complements the action. Being unlike the last games highly aggressive score this game is powerful instead.
  • The Atlan mech and mecha dragon parts give me  unforgettable moments.
  • The game has excellent world building that expands the DOOM universe in many ways giving me a lot to explore and endless hours of gameplay for me to play.
  • Cons
  • Fans of ‘DOOM Eternal’s’ fast airborne movement may find the heavier combat style jarring at first. I felt it at first but got used to it and started to love the game.
  • For me a few of the environmental traversal puzzles slightly slow down the pacing.
  • Some fan-favorite weapons are absent which disappointed me a bit even if the decision makes sense for the game’s direction.

Final Thoughts

‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ proves that id Software isn’t afraid to take risks with its most iconic franchise. By taking away the Slayer’s speed and replacing it with armor, a shield and the unstoppable momentum of a juggernaut, the developers have created a prequel that stands firmly on its own.

It’s heavy, brutal and cinematic and most importantly, it’s a great addition to the DOOM series and a worthy chapter in one of gaming’s greatest modern trilogies; with me at least.

Tech/Games

‘Dying Light’: Review

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By: Amir Salaad

WARNING: This review talks about some major story parts and characters from the game and contains spoilers.

‘Dying Light’ is one of the best horror/zombie survival games I have ever played. The game was made by Techland and first released in January of 2015. Even though the game is over a decade old it still feels fun and exciting compared to other games that have been released recently.

The main way to get around the game movement wise is parkour although, you can unlock a grapple hook later on in the story. Dying Light mixes parkour, fighting, survival, and horror together in a really nice way. It keeps you interested, basically glued to the game the entire time you’re playing. Well, at least for me.

The setting of Dying Light takes place in a city called Harran after a zombie outbreak happens. You, the main character, play as a man named Kyle Crane. He works for the GRE as an agent and gets sent into the city to track down a colonel gone rogue named Suleiman who stole a file very important to the GRE. But the life he sees in front of him changes him and he starts to go against the GRE because they planned to weaponize the Harran virus and bomb the city once their intentions were revealed to the world.

The main campaign of this game is emotional, serious, and captivating at times. There are many characters Crane meets in the game, but my favorite character is Jade Aldemir. Jade is smart, brave, and very strong. She helps Crane with many things in the story and always tries to look out for him. That’s why it hurt when she sacrificed herself and gave the antizin to Crane instead of using it on herself near the end of the game.

One of the best things about the game is the movement system. You can run across the roofs of buildings, climb them, jump over walls, and swing around the city if you have the grappler hook. The parkour makes the game feel somewhat real as if you’re actually doing the parkour yourself. Even moving around when you’re not doing missions is fun and thrilling. I think this key part of the game makes it stick out from other games in the same genre.

The combat in this game is also top notch. At the start, your choice of weapons are not good: like pipes and planks. But later in the game, you can collect different things and craft new and better weapons like swords, electric bats, and strong hammers. Fighting zombies can go from almost impossible to really easy depending on your choice of weapons. Some are fast and strong while others are slow and weak. So, you might have to pick the right weapon for each type of zombie.

The scariest part of the game to me is during nighttime. During the day zombies are still dangerous but you’re able to make your way fairly easily enough. But at night, stronger zombies called Volatiles come out. They are faster, stronger, and can kill you in seconds compared to a normal zombie during the day. The game during the day compared to during the night is different. You run through the dark streets that are somewhat lit facing way stronger variants of zombies that chase you down. I like this aspect of the game because it gets your heart racing and induces fear.

The graphics are also really nice in this game even though it’s over a decade old. The detail in the city, how abandoned it feels, Techland really brought it to life. The sound effects are also amazing. Like the zombie growls, the music of the game, and background sounds of the city. All these combined together makes the feeling more intense.

Overall, ‘Dying Light’ is an amazing horror/zombie survival game with thrilling parkour, exciting combat, and a strong and emotionally heavy story that will keep you glued to your seat. Techland did a great job mixing all the action and horror together. Even after all the time the games been out, it is still worth playing to this day.

I would easily give ‘Dying Light’ a 9.1/10. It’s available on PC, Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo.

Tech/Games

‘Dandy’s World’: Twisted Delilah theory

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By: Maple Graham

With the acceleration of content since the Twisted AI update, many are speculating what could be added next into ‘Dandy’s World’. The Toon of the Week events will admittedly take up a lot of the developer’s time, but those will be staggered to make up for other updates. The summer event is also speculated to happen this year, but it hasn’t been confirmed. What’s left is a decent chunk of time developers can use for other things, and fans have been wondering what could possibly be in store.

A fan theory—one that I have come to believe—has been circulating around: an upcoming Lethal variant of Delilah, a fictional co-founder of Gardenview and Dandy’s World. While not confirmed nor denied, there is still a myriad of possible evidence linking this theory to the game which I will be going over from the most to least trivial. If true, this would make her the first enemy in the game to not be a Toon, and the third Lethal.

Firstly, within her portrait, Delilah has ichor stains all over her clothes, and her skin is also mostly covered. She could be possibly hiding parts of herself corrupted by ichor, and therefore masking her symptoms. It is entirely possible that she gained powers from the ichor, making her the most powerful staff member within Gardenview. However, this could just be a byproduct of working extensively with the substance.

Secondly, there are many things around Gardenview that hint at another character lurking within the shadows of the game. There is various graffiti stating “find me” within various areas, and paired with footsteps that resemble a human’s: signifying some sort of hidden character is present; one that isn’t seen through the Toons. One of which is even located within a hidden office of Delilah’s, which can be inferred from past camera footage taken within that room.

The most glaring evidence (and the most obscured) is a hidden room within Shelly’s floor. During a blackout, when the lights go out, a single red light stays on in an adjoining room. It is elevated, almost like a lookout room. There’s no figure visible, but that light in that inaccessible room hints at another presence within the facility that is not yet known, Delilah or otherwise.

A piece of evidence I was going to leave out, but ultimately decided to keep: ‘Dandy’s World’s’ naming convention. Both Lethals in the game, those being Dyle and Dandy himself, both start with the letter “D.” Though this may seem like an excessive stretch at first, they are the only Toons that have this trait. This could be mirrored onto Delilah, however Devan, Dandy’s toon handler, seems to nullify this argument. Additionally, Delilah’s last name, Keen, is oddly parallel to the attention span mechanic within the game, but this could just be another coincidence.

Books/Art, Editorials/Student Voice, Tech/Games

The ghost in the machine: Is AI killing the artist or just the brush

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By: Weston Halgunseth

Robotic arm labeled ART-BOT 01 painting a colorful abstract canvas in a studio
A robotic arm creating a colorful abstract painting in an artist’s studio. Image created with AI

Introduction

For centuries art was defined by the muscle ache of musicians, paint soaked clothes, and pencil lead fingers of artists. To create means to physically struggle with concepts and tools. However, in the last few years a new artist has joined which is AI. While many celebrate this as a “new era” others fear we are trading human touch, meaning, originality for mere convenience and speed.

The rise of the machine

The statistics are hard to ignore. Today a vast majority of artists are using AI to generate or do most of the work with stuff like drawing, instruments, painting and books and stories. We have moved from a world where you had to spend months to years learning to play instruments, draw realistically, make complex stories, etc, to a world where you simply type “make me a story about ____, make me a song, etc” into a box.

What we gain vs What we lose

On one hand tech provides accessibility and speed especially with broke people that want to make music but are low on money but still want to learn. Another plus is that if you have a great idea but have no skill to make it, AI can help you express that idea. But the cost is steep. When a computer generates a piece of art, it lacks the element of human experience, emotion and overall just seems dull and boring most of the time, losing the stuff that made art pop.

The devaluation of “the doer”

The most concerning trend I saw is the shift from “doing”. If a machine can create a perfect art piece in seconds what happens to the person who spends hours practicing their art? I’m seeing a decline in dedication in art. As people become more used to the “perfection” of algorithms we risk entering a “post human” art era where everything looks and sounds “perfect, flawless, and downright inhuman”. It feels like there was no emotion or bigger picture when making it and it was just making it to look good.

The robbers

Much of the art AI makes isn’t original because AI uses the internet to learn. If it has to look at other art to get an idea of what art is, what is stopping it from just straight up copying or taking most of someone else’s art to make another “masterpiece”? There has been a lot of hate with this especially with stories and taking ideas and phrases from other texts for their “original” art pieces.

The path forward

We must decide if we want technology to be our pen, brush, pick, etc. or our helper and guide for art. The future of creativity depends on our ability to prioritize human “mistakes” and experiences that only a person can show, over an art piece made just to look good and get praise and fame.

Conclusion

Ultimately, a computer can mimic a heartbeat but it cannot feel the rhythm of the brain’s experiences and the emotions that come with that. As we move further into this digital age we must make a conscious effort to support the artists who are still picking up their art supplies and make sure they don’t fall out of the cycle.

Tech/Games

‘Resident Evil Requiem’ review

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By: Weston Halgunseth

Warning: This review contains spoilers

‘Resident Evil Requiem’ is a crazy new game. It manages to mix scary moments with the kind of fighting that you would find in games like ‘Doom’. What makes it special is how it uses 2 different characters to tell its story. This keeps the game feeling new and exciting from the beginning to the end. If you love good jumpscares, epic boss fights and crazy lore this game is exactly what you need to try.

The feel of the game

The coolest part of Requiem for me is that you actually get 2 games in one basically because of the 2 main characters Grace and Leon.

When you are playing as Grace most people choose to play in first person POV. Grace isn’t trained at all and is only an FBI blood analyst that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her parts are all about just survival, walking through shadows, hiding from monsters, and solving puzzles. It was always super intense for me because every time an enemy showed up it was a jumpscare. Also, the flashlight would be very dim and most of the time unusable. Pair that with the low ammo and the low supplies for crafting and it makes a good mix for a survival horror game.

Then with Leon’s POV most people choose a third person POV. Leon is experienced in bioweapons and knows how to deal with them with 20+ years of experience. Leon is strong, fast, and smart even though he’s infected carrying heavy weapons such as a shotgun, rifle, sub machine gun, etc. Leon also shows his strength when he’s fighting things 2-3x his size with only basic weapons and an axe, and he also shows his strength with his ability to parry almost anything to a simple punch to a car. All these things together makes his parts feel like a perfect fighter game with a hint of horror.

These two POVs make a perfect mix for a game showing experience, skill, and aging; giving the game a rocky feeling.

Aspects of the game: A world that looks and sounds real

The game looks beautiful in a dark, creepy way. It takes place in the ruins of Raccoon City after its bombing 20+ years ago and its details in the atmosphere are impressive. You’ll walk through streets with vines growing up broken buildings, and rain puddles reflecting showing the details and thought put into the game.

But the sound is what actually kept me up at night. You can hear the wind whistling through broken glass, heavy thuds of footprints on the floor above you giving you a smooth gameplay. An enemy called “the girl” stalks Grace through a hospital. She doesn’t scream or anything loud she just whispers and mumbles when chasing you. Hearing her sounds coming down a hallway is terrifying. 

Why it’s worth your time

The story lasts about 15 to 18 hours which feels just right because most games like this are short but this game ran on for so long it made me feel like this was multiple games. While you do repeat a lot of the same areas a lot, there are a lot of moments where new enemies show up so the player isn’t bored of the same area while keeping them on their toes.

‘Resident Evil Requiem’ is a gem. It’s rare to find a game that is a terrifying experience and a fun action game at the same time without feeling boring, but this game nailed it. Other games that have done this are ‘Doom’, some Roblox games and that’s about it because it’s just so rare and hard to make a game like this. 

My personal review

If I had to rate this game on a scale of 1-10 I would simply give it a 9/10 just because the fact the game looks and feel are something I have never seen in any other game from things like simple decay on furniture to the entire city. The look of ruins being portrayed perfectly makes the game perfect, also the lore makes fans of ‘Resident Evil’ happy because there is so many Easter eggs from earlier games such as ‘Resident Biohazard’, ‘RE3’, etc with things like the collectibles to Mr. X and Mr. Tofu which is a playable character in ‘Resident Evil’. 

My favorite character 

My favorite character is Grace even though it was fun to play Leon it was fun to have a game so good at showing the horror side of a game so well. 

Scariest part

I think the scariest moment of the game was with the beginning of the hospital with “the girl” stalking or chasing you and you’d have to run into the light to be safe, and all around just a horrifying part of the game. 

Least favorite thing

My least favorite part of the game is at the end when Zeno, a look alike of Whesker was about to fight Leon, but lost his powers and then getting taken out by Victor Gideon. I didn’t like how we didn’t get to fight Zeno. I wish I could but I understand why they choose to do that to show the new anti-virus to us.

Editorials/Student Voice, Tech/Games

The ethical concerns about the development of AI

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By: Calvin Westin

Photo by Matheus Bertelli on Pexels.com

The story about Prometheus, where fire stolen by a mythical figure from the gods became a symbol of the destructive and bad side of progress. While giving humankind a tool for making civilization and ruling the world, the fire itself remained uncontrollable. Mary Shelley used this same idea while creating the book of Victor Frankenstein, whose creation had made something too powerful to stay under its creator’s control, similar to fire in ancient times. And now, as the development of artificial intelligence technology progresses at a fast speed, it seems humans are once again following this pattern. By publishing these powerful artificial intelligence algorithms, companies like OpenAI are committing theft of fire, therefore risking disruption of domains of human intelligence.

People are also worried that our current safety rules aren’t enough to keep up. In Chapter 5 of Shelley’s book, Victor Frankenstein’s sadness creates an unsettling relationship. Having brought the monster into being, Frankenstein goes on, “This was then the reward of my curiosity; and I became myself capable of bestowing existence on whom I had created. Perhaps a corpse would be reanimated; galvanism had give tokens of such a wonder.”

This story is a major warning for us today. Scientists like Geoffrey Hinton believe that computers will soon beat humans in terms of dealing with data analysis and handling data. Once developers lose control over the results produced by the machines, there will be serious consequences following after that.

Consequently, it appears to be time that IT professionals start actually managing and executing their responsibilities more effectively. New tech isn’t an excuse to do sketchy stuff in this field, so experts working on AI really need to follow some strict safety rules while they’re doing their research.

In the end, the people who create anything have full moral responsibility for it.

Editorials/Student Voice, Tech/Games

Pros and cons of AI

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By: Janessa Castro Cruz

Photo by igovar igovar on Pexels.com

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that makes computers and machines to simulate human learning, creativity, thinking, and problem solving. They understand and respond to human language and learn from new information and experience. AI is able to make detailed recommendations and act independently, replacing the need for human intelligence. Over the years, AI’s popularity has risen and some believe that AI shouldn’t be used and should be banned, and others believe it’s a great tool and should be more available. There are lots of pros and cons of AI.

PROS: Some benefits of AI is that you can work faster, as it can generate outputs faster than the human brain and body can process information. You could work smarter when using it, and the machine can make mistakes but it’s more often in humans. There have been research studies that show AI-assisted reviewing is more accurate than basic human reviewing.

CONS: AI could create a lot of deep-fakes, causing fraud, theft, scams, and more. It’s possible that AI can create fake representations of real people and events. The tool is now in the workforce and has caused people to lose their jobs also causing mass unemployment. The school system is now disrupted; students rely on AI to do their work for them, cheat on tests, and more meaning they aren’t learning anything. It also consumes a lot of water, making it harmful to our earth. Data centers powering AI are predicted to consume over 426 billion liters of water annually by 2030

I don’t think AI should be used, especially in the school system and in jobs. If it’s affecting students’ education and doing the work for them then they aren’t learning anything. It’s also causing people to lose their jobs and they shouldn’t allow that to happen. I believe that AI should only be used to brainstorm ideas and help with research and reviewing.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life, Tech/Games

The shift in the digital

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By: Weston Halgunseth

Photo by Katerina Holmes on Pexels.com

Introduction

A few months ago, in St. Paul, classrooms shifted from desks and whiteboards to beds and sleep. This change sparked a huge debate. While some students thrive in a digital space, others find themselves struggling with online learning. In my view, the overall effect of online learning on students is that it is mostly good but a lot of it gives a bit too much leeway.

The good of online learning

Online learning has some great benefits that help students feel better. You can sleep much more because you don’t have to wake up early to catch a bus or be in school on time. This helps you feel rested and gives you more energy to focus on your lessons, unlike what normally happens where you feel fatigued for the first 20-30 minutes of class. You usually have more time to finish your tasks so you don’t feel as much stress. You can learn at your own speed instead of trying to keep up with a fast teacher.

The bad side of online learning

Online learning has some good parts but it also has problems. It is hard to try your best when no one is watching you and it is easy to forget your assignments without the teachers reminding you. If you get stuck you have to wait for an email instead of getting help right away. It is also lonely because you don’t see your friends at lunch or in the halls making it so your social skill starts to go down. Because students feel alone and bored they don’t learn as well and their grades often go down. Even though computers are helpful, being in a real classroom is usually better for most people.

My own experience

Back in 2020, when COVID was a big thing, I was stuck at home for a year and in that time I experienced a lot of the things I talked about such as the lack of motivation, loneliness feeling, less stress, and grades dropping. In that year, I’ve noticed that my knowledge with most of the stuff I learned before the online classes was really rusty and foggy and it took me a bit to catch up to where I should be in math, science, etc. Like in math, when I got back, I was struggling bad and didn’t get a hang of it until I started getting help after school from friends.

I also noticed that online learning made it hard to keep my friends. A lot of my friends I had in 5th grade I lost when I came back because I hadn’t talked to them for a year or so, and overall online learning wasn’t the best experience for me. It ruined my ability to socialize, my knowledge went down and a lot more.

The verdict

The shift to online learning is a double edged sword. On the positive side the ability to sleep in and the freedom of more time to submit assignments greatly reduces my and many others stress allowing students to learn subjects at a pace that actually works for them.

However, these benefits are often ruined by the lack of motivation and hands-on help. Without socializing, students feel alone and lonely which can lead to a grade drop and people getting less educated because they aren’t truly engaged. Ultimately, while the flexibility is great online learning only works if we can find a way to bring back the social and strictness sides of a physical classroom.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life, Tech/Games

AI’s impact on education

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By: Karl Salkowski

(Image Credit Unsplash)

As artificial intelligence continues to become more and more widespread and accessible, it only becomes more prevalent in our day to day lives. Every year AI plays a larger role in public education, but it is not always constructive. Although AI can be used to enable student creativity, it comes with the risk of over dependence. With artificial intelligence models becoming more aware and accurate it becomes harder to distinguish between human and artificially created work. New systems such as ChatGPT Zero and Turnitin have gained popularity as systems able to verify human work, but they aren’t always accurate.

AI can help students understand difficult concepts, simplifying details through instant feedback and explanations. However, AI can also be used maliciously in order to pass off assignments as student work. Over time many students become over-dependant on artificial intelligence leading them to fall behind.

AI has changed the landscape of education, forcing both students and teachers to adapt very quickly. Many schools use certain firewalls and tools to ban AI software on school WiFi, while others have opted to create policies on constructive and safe AI use. Many use these strategies in conjunction, such as Highland Park Senior High, which has chosen to block less trustworthy cites, while also integrating an AI responsibility policy.

AI forces educators to rethink how to assess students, figuring out new methods to preserve academic honesty. As AI continues to integrate more with our lives, students will continue to rely more heavily on artificial intelligence and online resources. This makes it significantly harder to judge whether student work is genuine or manufactured. In my own experiences, many of my teachers have decided against more traditional testing methods and started using new types of essays and activities that are harder to cheat on.

When used responsibly AI can be an incredible resource for students, but it is likely that most students have already developed an over dependence on it, leading to more of a struggle long term.