Tales from the Backlog 171: El Paso, Elsewhere (with Jacob McCourt & Luke Lewis)
Strange Scaffold is a rare game studio that gets as much, or maybe even more, positive attention for their workplace ethos and number of releases per year as they do for their games themselves. I found myself in that same position, with great respect for their process, but no experience with the games themselves....until now! El Paso, Elsewhere is an emotional take on neo-noir, vampire stories, Max Payne and boomer shooters, and it works really well!
Guest info: Jacob McCourt and Luke Lewis
- Check out their shared podcast Crossplay Conversations https://www.youtube.com/@crossplayconvos
- Check out Lukewarm Games https://www.lukewarmgames.com/
- Follow Luke on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/lukewarmlewis.bsky.social
- Check out Left Behind Game Club https://leftbehindgame.club/
- Check out Jacob's written reviews on The Gaming Brief https://thegamingbrief.ca/
- Follow Jacob on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/jacob.bsky.social
TIMESTAMPS
- 0:00 Title Card
- 0:22 Intros
- 4:20 Personal Histories with Strange Scaffold/El Paso, Elsewhere
- 10:43 Top-Level Thoughts on El Paso, Elsewhere
- 15:10 Story Setup
- 20:49 Presentation and Storytelling
- 27:02 Music
- 34:39 Shooting and Bullet Time
- 48:57 Gameplay Pacing
- 55:03 Closing Thoughts/Recommendations
- 1:01:27 Jacob and Luke Plug Their Stuff!
- 1:11:31 SPOILER WALL/Patron Thank-Yous
- 1:13:45 Spoilers- Janet, Draculae and James
- 1:33:06 Spoilers- Addiction, Being a Good Person, Endings
Music used in the episode is credited to R.J. Lake and LAKE SAVAGE. Tracks used: a forty-six story motel, GONNA CUT, GHOSTIN' THE MAINFRAME, audio demon, almost exactly the same, next time on elpasoball z.
- Buy the score- https://spellmynamewithabang.bandcamp.com/album/el-paso-elsewhere-part-one-the-score
- Buy the rap album- https://spellmynamewithabang.bandcamp.com/album/el-paso-elsewhere-part-two-the-album
Check out an interview with Xalavier Nelson Jr on the Gamerheads Podcast.
Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server!
Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi!
Social Media:
BlueSky
Instagram
Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures
Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!