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volume 1, issue 16

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From the Mouth of Madness:
Get a (Half) Life!

By Jason "loonyboi" Bergman

What's up this week in loonygames? Ask our editor.

hee! If this update's late, I can tell you right now why...Half-Life. That's right, Half-Life.

By now you're probably sick to death of everyone yelling about how good this game is, so i'll spare you some of that...but I can understand how people just can't help themselves...this game is really that good.

Rowan "Sumaleth" Crawford (the author of last week's, as well as this week's cover stories...that was purely a coincidence, I swear) has written up his full review, and that will run on Thursday, but let me just share with you my initial thoughts.

I can't stop playing this thing! It's like a drug! I was somewhat addicted to Sin and Shogo, but man...this is worse! It's...it's...it's just so damn fun!

Don't get me wrong here...I don't think Half-Life is the perfect game. Far from it, in fact. But I do think that it's the closest "perfect" first person shooter i've ever seen. In many ways, Half-Life surpasses Doom for me...in single player, of course. I was quite let down by how little I took to the multiplayer...perhaps with time it'll grow on me, but I just can't stop playing Shogo deathmatch!

Shogo is my deathmatch game of choice right now, and it is so, because it's a no-holds barred, complete ass to the wall deathmatch experience. We're talking limbs a flyin', gibs a scatterin', total fragfest. Hot dang do I dig it. :)

But Half-Life seems, well...slower to me. It just didn't seem as over the top as Shogo. Oh well...who cares? I'll just keep playing the single player over and over (and over and over) again.

But if you're into Half-Life multiplayer...check this out. I made up one of those decal dealies for loonygames (click to enlarge):

Pretty stylin', huh? If you want the .BMP I used, click here.

This week's cover story is on Doom's fifth anniversary...I was thinking about it, and just how strange is it that it's been only five years?

When you think about it...so much has happened in the five years since Doom's release...I can still remember being all psyched when I saw that first Quake screenshot in some magazine way back when...it had a dragon flying overhead, and I remember being amazed that in Quake, i'd be able to look up. :)

I know so many people whose lives were changed as a result of Doom's release, that I can't even begin to list them here. First and foremost, however, is my own. If Doom were never released, then this page wouldn't be here today. Nor would any of the pages I read on a daily basis.

It may sound a bit corny, but I'd just like to say thanks. To John, John, Dave, Adrian, Kevin, Jay, Sandy, Shawn, and Bobby...thanks. You may never know just what you guys did in that little ol' office of yours.

- Jason "loonyboi" Bergman is the editor-in-chief of loonygames.

Credits: From the Mouth of Madness logo illustrated by and is © 1998 Dan Zalkus. From the Mouth of Madness is © 1998 Jason Bergman. All other content is © 1998 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited, you naughty boy, you.