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 What the hell is this? Steel Rats is a 2018 high-concept action game for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. It was developed by Polish studio Tate Multimedia (formerly X-Ray Interactive, makers of Kao the Kangaroo). It's got interesting gameplay, hilariously bad voice acting, and some unique ideas that don't quite work together - in other words, perfect for someone like me. Set in an alternate 1940s, Steel Rats stars four members of the titular motorcycle club as they deal with an unexpected alien invasion in the metropolis of Coastal City, Michigan. (I hope I got the terminology correct - I know as much about motorcycle culture as the devs do, which isn't saying much!) To call this game ambitious would be a massive understatement. There are four playable characters, each with their own playstyles and unique upgrade trees. The gameplay is focused on motorcycle-based combat, along with platforming and puzzles (also on bikes!). Movement is mostly 2D with lanes, a la Excitebike, though there are some wrinkles in how the lane system works. In fact, there's wrinkles and janky spots everywhere, especially the combat, which has to be seen to properly appreciate it. Just to give you an idea of how bonkers this game gets, you see that weird-looking wheel on the splash image? That's the Wheelsaw, a weapon that can cut through metal, concrete, and barbed wire. This is probably the most normal part of the game. Joining me on this journey are pdPreciousRoy and Sel Nar (Salted Grump on Discord), the latter of whom recommended this game to me. How will this LP work? This is not going to be a 100% run, but I am aiming to get specific unlocks and collectibles. Each character has separate upgrade trees, costumes, and motorcycle paint jobs, so I'll be getting those, which you unlock by reaching a certain high score in every level. I'll also be getting all the Secrets, which are hidden collectibles that unlock more lore and backstory - though for reasons explained in the first video, this may be harder than it sounds. Updates will drop sometime during each weekend. Hopefully. You know how inconsistent updating can get. So with all that in mind, let's get rollin'! VIDEOS Full Playlist               
theenglishman fucked around with this message at 15:06 on May 14, 2022 |
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Feb 19, 2022 03:16
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| # ? May 3, 2024 18:20 |
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FANART Raitzeno has an idea for Steel Rats DLC: 
theenglishman fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Feb 26, 2022 |
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Feb 19, 2022 03:20
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We get salty about this game. It at least tries to not show its whole rear end in the first level, but the combination of jank and poorly-thought-out mechanics bite it constantly in the backside.
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Feb 19, 2022 03:52
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Huh, slight Wolfenstein, The New Colossus vibes from the setting.
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Feb 19, 2022 05:13
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Dieselpunk is a criminally underused genre. The game doesn't appear that broken as of yet.
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Feb 19, 2022 21:24
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Yippee-wowsers! This game look rad-arino!
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Feb 19, 2022 22:35
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By popular demand posted:The game doesn't appear that broken as of yet. That's how it gets ya. The concept is interesting and the introduction is solid enough, and you're thinking you might have found a really neat game. But then it starts throwing more and more poo poo at you to juggle, and every new thing introduces new opportunities for jank, so it all just devolves and any charm it has just gets overshadowed. That said, there are worse games out there, and I think this will be a fun LP to follow and see how Englishman handles it all.
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Feb 20, 2022 01:51
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Whatever faults may reveal themselves later you certainly can't fault the aesthetic.
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Feb 21, 2022 07:54
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Kibayasu posted:Whatever faults may reveal themselves later you certainly can't fault the aesthetic. Yeah the graphical style is pretty interesting. I should post concept art in the thread at some point.
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Feb 24, 2022 18:21
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In today's episode we rescue Randy and accidentally insult a real band by calling them fake. Don't worry, we will correct this mistake later.
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Feb 26, 2022 16:19
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I am also an incredibly wordy poo poo in this episode, so apologies in advance for taking as much dead air as possible and strangling it.
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Feb 26, 2022 16:23
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Sel Nar posted:I am also an incredibly wordy poo poo in this episode, so apologies in advance for taking as much dead air as possible and strangling it. Oh no, looks like we’ll have to retsupurae our own LP!
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Feb 26, 2022 18:02
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Yeah, I can see how timed and tight platforming in this game might be hard, what with how... floaty? I want to say, the bikes are. At least this time it's running down to escape the inevitable wall of doom, rather than going up. That's a nice change of pace.
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Feb 26, 2022 18:06
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I think this video does a much better job highlighting the issues with the game. There's just too much stuff thrown at you that you're expected to keep track of, from characters, to weapons, to attacks, to special moves, to upgrades, to obstacles, to challenges, to collectables, to enemies. The complete lack of restraint makes things so needlessly complicated and breaks up any kind of flow this game could have had and desperately needed. The game's concept is practically begging for it. And that drill chase section. I streamed this game a couple years ago, and that section was the wall I could not get past. It cannot be stressed enough how tight that section is, combined with you never fully having complete control or precision, in a setpiece that's full of crap and it's not always clear where you're supposed to go next. It's really bad. In fact, I think this video ends where I stopped playing. Maybe I'll pick the game back up and see if my tolerance for it has improved and play along with this LP. I'll report back when I give up again.
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Feb 26, 2022 21:08
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Honestly, there's some levels that my brain completely glazed over, which'll likely show up early in the second chapter map; Even accounting for the relative limitation of "Character Action Game where everyone is glued to a motorcycle like it's grown out of their rear end" in regards to character movement, the movement itself can politely be described as "floaty" or "unmaneuverable". Less-charitably, it's about as accurate as trying to steer a three-wheeled shopping cart through a minefield while a bagful of drunken cattle flail about in the basket. So, basically, Rabbids Go Home controls better.
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Feb 28, 2022 19:27
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Sel Nar posted:
Oh, ouch!
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Feb 28, 2022 20:22
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These guys and the people who made Generation Zero must have had the same inspiration when it comes to their big robots. The plots are also vaguely similar the moment as well, a mysterious attack, the protagonists have no clue what's happening, and everything they come across has been deserted eerily recently.
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Mar 1, 2022 05:12
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Kibayasu posted:These guys and the people who made Generation Zero must have had the same inspiration when it comes to their big robots. The plots are also vaguely similar the moment as well, a mysterious attack, the protagonists have no clue what's happening, and everything they come across has been deserted eerily recently. Generation Zero is objectively a better game though. Considering the Avalanche /Systemic Reaction group are also responsible for the Just Cause series and Second Extinction, that's not too surprising.
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Mar 1, 2022 05:26
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Kibayasu posted:These guys and the people who made Generation Zero must have had the same inspiration when it comes to their big robots. The plots are also vaguely similar the moment as well, a mysterious attack, the protagonists have no clue what's happening, and everything they come across has been deserted eerily recently. Generation Zero is also a game that's still being patched and updated as the Devs continue to poke at the inner workings to improve it, and the Robot Invasion is more plausible in Gen Zero, being a case of "Proactive Response to a possible Soviet Invasion that gets out of hand." Steel Rats has an objectively worse story compared to an open-world survival game with no humans to interact with.
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Mar 1, 2022 05:49
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I mean I did avoid mentioning the gameplay for a reason  though the last time I played it I didn’t leave with a high opinion of Gen Zero either.There’s just something very appealing in that unsettling way about very industrial looking and sounding robots but with animalistic designs.
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Mar 1, 2022 10:41
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Well I finished recording Steel Rats footage last night, and all I can say is: That final boss can go gently caress itself.
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Mar 1, 2022 14:22
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Kibayasu posted:There’s just something very appealing in that unsettling way about very industrial looking and sounding robots but with animalistic designs. So, by that metric, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Forbidden West are extremely your bag, as almost every Robot you encounter and shank is, well, animalistic in design, even if refined enough by iterative design to no longer be ultra-industrial?
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Mar 2, 2022 04:45
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I'm playing along with this LP now. The one secret in the drill chase level is actually there on your way down, when escaping the drill. Instead of heading left at the end, you can head to the corner on the right and snag it then, instead of the death drop to get it later. However, because the window is so tight to escape the drill in the first place, you'll probably get hit anyway and have to restart the chase. The way Englishman did it was the more sane approach for sure. I also found no way to avoid the sweeping laser attack from the boss. In theory, they're correct that it's a wave across lanes, and you probably can avoid it by being the the correct lane at the correct time. In execution, I found it to be impossible because this is a very good game.
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Mar 2, 2022 21:03
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Two updates today: first, the secrets from Chapter 1, then the start of Chapter 2.
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Mar 5, 2022 17:02
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I can excuse most of the rough voice acting in this game (Randy's voice acting is really great though), but Lisa's delivery stands out in particular for being terrible. It was made all the worse by me going for the objectives and replaying levels many, MANY times, and having to hear those same terrible lines more times than anyone deserves. But, in replaying levels so many times, I did discover something. Earlier, I complained that this game was begging for a sense of flow. Well, I found that flow, at least in some of the levels. When everything comes together, it can feel really good and actually be really fun. Talking to Englishman outside of this thread, a comparison was made to Sonic games that I feel is very fitting, in that regard. The problem is that you really have to put in a lot of effort to get to that point and really become familiar with the levels and really get comfortable with the different characters and abilities and all that crap, and that's just a big hurdle to get over. At least in Sonic games, there's plenty of setpieces and decent level design that makes it easier for you to at least stumble upon more than a few moments that really showcase what the game wants you to feel. Here, you gotta work for it every time. I also want to point out that Englishman made getting out of that ditch at 22:50 look WAY easier than it is. I had to restart more than a few times because I could not escape from there no matter what I tried.
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Mar 5, 2022 18:24
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Jamesman posted:I also want to point out that Englishman made getting out of that ditch at 22:50 look WAY easier than it is. I had to restart more than a few times because I could not escape from there no matter what I tried. In my opinion the jump before it was far more difficult because you have to let go of boost, jump, hope the sudden loss of momentum doesn't screw you over, then do a precise dash over to the next pipe ramp. Many takes were ruined because the game just decided that my momentum was carrying me down towards the bottom of the ramp instead of up in the air. Even after almost 30 hours of Steel Rats, I still don't completely understand how the physics on the dash work, especially in midair. Sometimes it propels you forward, other times you just rev your engine limply. At first I thought it had something to do with dashing after the apex of the jump, but that proved to be false. This game, man. It gets in your head.
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Mar 5, 2022 19:20
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I can't stop noticing Randy seducing me in the upgrade screen.
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Mar 7, 2022 05:19
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Kibayasu posted:I can't stop noticing Randy seducing me in the upgrade screen. OK, I'm glad it's not just me. You'd see posters like that once upon a time (Maybe you still do? I haven't been to a Spencer's Gifts in years), except it was girls in bikinis instead of dieselpunk german guys.
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Mar 7, 2022 06:18
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Kibayasu posted:I can't stop noticing Randy seducing me in the upgrade screen. Get your hands Offa him you skank! The game is showing more bugs and issues but I'm expecting bigger things to come based on your promises OP.
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Mar 7, 2022 11:56
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Kibayasu posted:I can't stop noticing Randy seducing me in the upgrade screen. I was just about to comment on how sexual that pose of his is. I just watched the first two episodes, I'm seeing the roots of the oversaturation of mechanics and such, if it keeps adding them in at the pace it is. But I can't really say it's terrible as of yet at this point really. The first impression is fine.
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Mar 8, 2022 06:05
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Steel Rats is on sale for 99 cents. Go buy it and join in on the fun!
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Mar 8, 2022 20:17
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Fair warning, you may want your money back.
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Mar 8, 2022 20:57
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theenglishman posted:Fair warning, you may want your money back. I got it through a Humble Bundle and after playing through the first few levels realized that 'may' was not the correct term.
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Mar 8, 2022 21:05
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theenglishman posted:Fair warning, you may want your money back. You got it for free and want a refund. You'll never get those hours back.
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Mar 8, 2022 21:15
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Sel Nar posted:You got it for free and want a refund. You'll never get those hours back. 
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Mar 8, 2022 21:33
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Mar 12, 2022 16:42
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So I'm all for liking Randy but at this point we really ought to address the elephant in the room: his German is atrocious. Having no idea how to pronounce "verdammt" was kind of cute but is "shiiiiiza" meant to be "scheisse"? Because that's not how you say that either...
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Mar 12, 2022 18:45
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With a name like Randal Kaiser I think that we can assume he's not actually from Germany, instead being some Germany weeaboo.
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Mar 12, 2022 19:11
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Randy is just the Devil Boner character from Nostalgia Critic videos.
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Mar 12, 2022 21:46
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It's really weird just how badly balanced the characters are. You never really feel any major differences between them, even with their different upgrade lists. The exception being their specials, and that's why Toshi is probably the best character to use almost exclusively. He is the only character with a natural long-range attack (Randy's harpoon doesn't count), and that little junkpet can deal some immense damage in a short amount of time. I didn't even know what Screamers did for a LONG time because I just slaughtered them so fast. Going a little faster, or having an extra bar of health, or whatever other little differences exist are pretty much useless when it comes to how the game is set up, but always having a gun at your disposal is just so drat powerful. I'm also pretty sure the developers realized this. I can't recall if there are any other triggers coming up that are as bad as the ones in the mall level. The flames erupting right around you and causing near-unavoidable damage is just plain bad and I have no idea how it continues to exist in the game like this.
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Mar 12, 2022 23:08
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