Unskippable: A Review

Let me just say this right here and now; Zero Punctuation IS The Escapist. If The Escapist had never bought the rights to Zero Punctuation then I would never go there. Not now. Not EVER. I know it sounds kinda cruel but occassionally, out of boredom, I have actually looked at some of the other series The Escapist runs and I am always disappointed and disgusted at what I discover. Anyway, out of the kindness and pity of my heart, I decided to look at one of the newest video series to feature on The Escapist, Unskippable. So far it is only two episodes in, but if it doesn't improve alot by episode three or four I'm not going to follow it any further. To cut right to the heart of the matter, the premise is that these two guys who speak in dull monotones overdub the unskippable cutscenes of videogames. It's kinda like what we do when we play games with friends sometimes, you know? Just having a few laughs is ok but I'd never put it up on the internet. Really though the premise is solid and interesting enough, and there are a buttload of games with shitty dialogue and the like, but the whole thing feels unprofessional and smacks of desperation. To me it feels more like something I'd accidently end up watching half of on Youtube before growing impatient with it's bullshit and leaving my computer altogether. One thing I really, REALLY disliked about it was the fact that most of the audio is still left in there. This would be fine if it was cleverly interwoven but as it stands it just stands in absolute contrast to the jokes that they ham-handedly wank into our faces. Perhaps this all sounds too harsh; and you know what? It is! I AM being harsh because really I think this show could be great. It's a solid idea with a wealth of opportunity and room to make it a real winner. It's like when people say they've found a diamond in the rough. In this case the diamond was in a sewer and was ripped out and sold to a jeweler too quickly, only to find that they'd forgotten to wash it off. So fix it up guys. Liven up your voices, scrap unnescessary audio and work on your material. You've got to be cruel to be kind.