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Review of Red Matter VR

Review of Red Matter VR Game
Rating ****

After finishing the VR game Half Life Alyx, I went on the Steam forum and asked for suggestions on what to play next. For the record, if you are looking for an immersive experience that will blow you away, I highly recommend Half Life Alyx. That game is phenomenal. Some of the requirements I had were that the game be more puzzle-focused and less shooter-focused. Among the suggested titles was the game Red Matter.

The game takes place on an abandoned Russian space station on one of Saturn’s moons. My very first impression was that it wasn’t to the same level of quality as Half Life Alyx. However, had this been my first foray into VR gaming, I would have thought it was fantastic. My overall opinion is that this is a very good VR experience.

When I made the decision to try this game, it was on sale for $12. It was $12 well spent. In reading the description of the game and some of the reviews, I was expecting a quick and easy game. One reviewer complained about how short the game was and how easy it was to solve the puzzles. Maybe I’m not as good as some other players. It took me thirteen hours to finish what was supposed to take four hours to finish.

I ran into a number of technical glitches that interrupted my enjoyment of the game. On more than one occasion I dropped a device that I needed only to have the device disappear and never reappear, forcing me to have to start from scratch or restart from a previous save. Since this problem has been reported by other players and the game has been out for a while, I would have thought that the developers would have addressed it by now. I also had several occasions where there was no sound, forcing me to shut down and restart. Another issue I had was that I could not find a button on my controller that activated a menu where I could save and exit the game.

Moving around the game is okay, but not nearly as smooth as it is in Half Life Alyx. The same can be said about the use of claws instead of hands. I didn’t think the puzzles were too easy. I spent a lot of time on most of them before figuring them out. I did, however, figure them all out. The puzzles should not be so difficult that you can’t go any further or you have to Google to find out how to solve a particular puzzle.

As for not having to worry about shooting myself out of trouble, I have mixed feelings. Now that I played a game with no shooting, I kind of missed the threats I faced in Half Life Alyx. The problem I had with the shooting aspect of Half Life Alyx was that there were so many times when I felt it was impossible to get through to whatever goal I was trying to reach (I did, however, manage to shoot my way out every time). So, I’m thinking that having some threats that you have to contend with is a good compromise.

The graphics in this game were very good. The soundscape was also very good. Now that the developers have or are about to release Red Matter II, I would certainly entertain the idea of buying the next version and can recommend this first version.

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Review of Secrets of a Marine’s Wife

Review of Secrets of a Marine’s Wife: A True Story of Marriage, Obsession, and Murder by Shanna Hogan
Rating *****

Marrying too young, adultery, and murder, are the elements behind the tragic short life of Erin Corwin. The book starts with the search and recovery of a body. The author then retraces the steps that led investigators to that exact spot.

Erin was only eighteen when she married the first boy she had ever dated, Jon Cowin. They married soon after Jon completed basic training for the marines. Erin was an animal lover who had a way with horses. She met Chris Lee at a horse stable. He was there because his wife thought it would help him overcome his depression. Chris and his wife, Nicole, were also neighbors. Like Jon, Chris was a marine.

Erin and Chris started spending more time together. They texted. They expressed affection for each other. Eventually, they began an affair. Erin soon lost interest in her new marriage and turned her focus on Chris.

When Chris’s wife Nicole found out about the affair, Chris agreed to end it. But they were neighbors, and the affair continued. It all came to a head when Erin learned that she was pregnant and that Chris was most likely the father.

Who killed Erin? Was it Jon after learning about the pregnancy? Was it Chris who already had a daughter and a wife and didn’t need the complication? Or was it someone else? This is a case where the circumstantial evidence points clearly and definitively in only one direction.

Erin’s story has been covered by 48 Hours as well as a Lifetime movie.

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Everything VR

Today I am launching a new category at Everything Nonfiction – Virtual Reality (VR). My initial interest in VR was to be able to use Microsoft Flight Simulator in VR. The first step was to determine what I needed from a hardware setup. After much research, I settled on a Dell Alienware R11 gaming computer. I won’t go through all the specs, but I will point out a few necessities for VR.

If you want to experience VR and not be frustrated because of poor performance, you’re going to need to spend some money on the following:

  • A fast processor (mine is an i9)
  • Lots of system memory (I have 32 gigabytes of system memory)
  • Lots of storage (VR programs use a lot of disk space. I went with 2TB)
  • A separate graphics card (I went with the Nvidia 3080)
  • Lots of ports (Mode C, USB, extra display ports for running the headset)

As for the VR headset, there are several options. First, you’ll have to decide between tethered or untethered, An untethered headset gives you a little more freedom of movement, but a tethered headset will provide you with better graphics. I went with a tethered HP Reverb.

The total cost of my system, including the headset, was approximately $5,000. However, after six months of use, I consider it money well spent.

My very first experience with VR was Microsoft Mixed Reality. After exploring the Mixed Reality portal, I downloaded two virtual tours: Rome and Machu Picchu. They were both free. I was blown away by both. Not only do you experience a place you may not have ever been to, but you have a personal guide and the ability to have a location transformed back to its heyday. I sat in the Coliseum and watched a gladiator fight, hovered over Machu Picchu in a hot air balloon, and saw what it was like when people still lived there. I also took a virtual tour of the International Space Station.

Machu Picchu

After some trial and error, I managed to get MS Flight Simulator up and running in VR (Note: there was an additional $600 cost for a throttle and yoke system). With Microsoft Flight Simulator, I’ve flown over the pyramids in Egypt, above monument valley in Utah, and through the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. I’ve also taken off in a seaplane in Anchorage, Alaska, and landed on a random mountain lake.

Each of the abovementioned experiences exceeded my expectations, but nothing blew me away more than my experience playing the VR game Half Life Alyx. I purchased the game on a whim because it was on sale. I didn’t know that I was buying the top-rated VR game to date.

Everything about this game is extraordinary: the graphics, the story, the interaction with the VR world, the soundtrack, the puzzles, and the overall experience. I paid $30 for this game. It took me 70 hours of gameplay to finish it. The best way to describe it is to compare it to the film The Day After Tomorrow with Tom Cruise, except here you are the Tom Cruise character.

I’ve only touched the surface of this new technology. Hopefully, the costs of the hardware will come down. But, if you can afford it, don’t wait. Once you get past a steep learning curve, you’ll be well on your way to stepping into the virtual world.

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Review of the Netflix Documentary Series Keep Sweet

Review of Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey Directed by Rachel Dretzin
Rating *****

Keep Sweet is a story about greed, corruption, sexual abuse, and cults. Using a combination of archival footage, interviews, and reenactments, the filmmakers tell the story of the rise and fall of Warren Jeffs and his followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).

It all starts when one man, Rulon Jeffs, decides that he wants to practice polygamy. To get around legal issues, he forms the FLDS and calls himself the prophet. To his followers, he is God personified. No one seemed to have a problem when Rulon, in his eighties, started taking on new wives who were decades younger. When Rulon dies, his son Warren takes over and declares himself the new prophet. The polygamy continues with even younger girls, some as young as twelve.

The first two episodes show how the multiple wives and the never-ending assembly line of new children, especially girls, form a closed society cut off from the rest of the world. The Keep Sweet in the title refers to the preachings of Jeffs, who demands that the women portray a happy and pure persona, forcing them to dress in pastel-colored dresses and cater to the whims of their husbands.

The last two episodes deal with law enforcement’s efforts to put Jeffs on trial for accessory to rape and, ultimately, the rape of underaged girls.

Jeffs keeps everyone in line by exerting total control over his followers. If anyone criticizes him or expresses a reluctance to follow one of his decrees, they are kicked out of the church. That’s when things start to fall apart for Warren Jeffs.

One woman, forced into marriage at age fifteen, decides to go to the authorities after being thrown out of the church. That starts the ball rolling. Meanwhile, Jeffs has a new plan for his most devoted followers – Zion, a place described as heaven on earth. In truth, it is a breeding ground for trafficking young girls. The whole thing is similar to the plotline of the film The Island.

Through the interviews of former cult members, you see how the control of information can distort reality. You see it now in Russia, North Korea, and other nations led by Authoritarian leaders. The sad part is that it is nearly impossible to break through to someone who has been fed propaganda their entire lives.

Warren Jeffs eventually gets what he deserves, but the other church members engaged in polygamy and rape of underage girls get away scot-free.

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Review of The Last Slave Ship

Review of The Last Slave Ship by Ben Raines Rating *****

You can’t write a book about the last slave ship to America without talking about slavery. How can one person enslave another? It starts with blatant racism. Those who enslaved others believed that they were superior, and they were, for the most part. Not because of some biological trait. The only advantage they had was education and laws that allowed slavery.

I used to think that slavery occurred when white men went to Africa and rounded up indigenous people at random, using force and killing those who didn’t comply. It turns out that Africans themselves did most of the rounding up and killing. All for the greed and satisfaction of a select few.

Author Ben Raines takes the reader on a journey that begins with an attack on a remote African village. Waiting for the captives is a ship called the Clotilda. The owner of the vessel has decided to ignore newly enacted laws prohibiting the slave trade. After crossing the ocean, with their cargo chained together in the hull of the ship, the captain of the Clotilda must elude patrol boats looking for the illegal cargo.

The whole enterprise of tearing families apart and forcing labor from another individual for the benefit of one man or woman is appalling. Yet the practice lasted for more than two hundred years. The author traces what happened to them throughout their remaining lives.

The Clotilda slaves were finally freed five years after arriving in America. The discrimination and abuse, however, never really abated. From the criminal justice system to industrial pollution to a lack of opportunities, the Clotilda passengers, along with the thousands who came before them, continued to suffer from the prejudices and racism that took them from their land.

The last part of the book deals with the search and discovery of the ship along with efforts to establish a memorial and museum.

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Review of Two Shallow Graves

Review of Two Shallow Graves rating *****

Two Shallow Graves is a seven-part documentary series that tells the story of the trial of Chase Merritt, who was on trial for the murder of all four members of the McStay family. What makes the docuseries so compelling is that the filmmakers were able to get interviews with lawyers, prosecutors, and individuals from all sides of the trial. The result is a well-balanced look at a murder trial.

The question that lingers in every episode is whether or not Chase is guilty or whether one of many other suspects is responsible for the deaths.

There is no direct evidence against Chase. It’s all circumstantial. The filmmakers don’t take sides or offer opinions–they present every fact for and against each suspect and let the viewer draw their own conclusion. Along the way, the viewer gets to hear directly from the people involved.

What appears suspicious when presented by investigators or the prosecution becomes less so when hearing the explanation from the defense. For example, the prosecution put on a witness from Quickbooks who testified that before the murders, Chase had called Quickbooks, posing as Joeseph McStay, one of the victims, and requested that Quickbooks delete the entire online account. The witness testified that he had only received a request like that one or two other times in all of his years working at Quickbooks. The explanation by Chase seemed plausible. Joseph McStay had trouble with a web designer who also had access to the Quickbooks accounts. The web designer, Dan Kavanaugh, was threatening to delete Joeseph’s website if he didn’t pay him what he felt Joeseph owed him. Joeseph asked Chase to call and have the account deleted to prevent Dan Kavavanugh from accessing the sales information.

There’s no question that Dan Kavanaugh was blackmailing Joeseph McStay. Joeseph designed fountains for businesses and individuals. Most of that work came from his website and Google searches. The loss of the website meant the loss of his business. Dan Cavanaugh believed he was entitled to 50% of Joeseph’s sales. He also considered himself a part-owner. Chase was the person who built and installed the fountains. Preventing Dan Kavanaugh from accessing Quickbooks was the first step in getting rid of Dan Kavanaugh. More telling is that all of the data deleted from the online account still remained on the desktop computer.

More red flags were going up around Dan Kavanaugh than Chase. Dan Kavanaugh sold the business four days after the family went missing for $20,000. It wasn’t his business to sell, and no one knew what had happened to the McStay’s at that point. An ex-friend of Dan Cavanaugh told the police that he had confessed to the killings. Police cleared him as a suspect because he was supposedly in Hawaii when the murders occurred.

The work done by Joeseph’s McStay’s father, Patrick, and a family friend, Gina Watson, provided much of the details about the various suspects. They did better work than the investigators.