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In my ongoing mission to keep the masses entertained during the writers' strike, I've been seeking logical Mac gaming replacements for the shows you can't live without during these dark days. Tonight's very special episode:
Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Drama
Premise: Unattractive for TV male and female doctors and stuff have a lot of personal problems about which they whine relentlessly under some of the most pretentious writing in the history of television. And they have a lot of sex.
Fellow Applelinks writer Jack Jose and I recently had a conversation about this show. He feels it's a pity the writers' talent is being wasted on such completely unlikable characters. I feel the writers have only themeselves to blame, since they created such completely unlikable characters. That's probably their point, but note to the WGA members: if you're having issues with life, see a therapist. We don't need you to work through your problems by foisting them on us in the guise of pretentious television. People who are able to sit through an hour of Grey's Anatomy should be able to charge the writers $150 for the therapy session. It's the same feeling I get after listening to Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, except that Pill is, you know, good.
Now, I know this show has its fans, and God bless you all. You're able to be entertained by a woman having to give birth to a dead baby, people with live RPG ammunition in their abdomen, people hating their friends and men and women constantly cheating on and berating each other. I don't have that ability. I'm entertained by actors in latex suits destroying models of Japanese cities. Can I really say who's wrong or right? Probably not, much to my chagrin, so I'll just help you get your writers' strike fix of all the pretention and maliciousness that Grey's Anatomy offers by suggesting you play Freeverse Software's Hereos of Might and Magic V.
An odd choice, you say? Perhaps. I hate Grey's Anatomy, but I thoroughly enjoy Heroes of Might and Magic V (HoMM 5). An odder choice, though, would be suggest to you all a game I don't like. What kind of a friend would do that? And yes, I do consider you all my friends. Each and every one of you...just not the kind of friend I actually do anything with.
Or talk to.
Or know anything about.
A definite improvement.
Still, I admit that a turn-based strategy game set in a world of fantasy and spells and demons and dogs with flaming heads would, on the surface, have little to do with a medical drama set in Seattle. But is Grey's Anatomy really about doctors and medicine? No. It's about sex and cruelty, and you can set that anywhere. Grey's Anatomy is set in a hospital only because hospitals make it easy for the writers to create drama. Can't figure out how to resolve the conflict between doctor A and doctor B since B cheated on A by sleeping nurce C? Don't! Wheel in a patient with a rod impaled through his chest so A and B can learn that what really matters in life is that we all learn to accept each other's faults, get along, and work hard to avoid putting ourselves in situations that could result in getting rods impaled in our chest.
The same goes for HoMM 5. It's not about the world of fantasy, it's just set there so the developers can create the super cool dragon skeletons that gamers love so dearly. The reason so many RPGs and strategy games are set in mythical fantasy worlds is because that's what sells. Fantasy is to gaming what sex is to hospital shows, I guess, and the more familiar we are with what we're seeing, the better.
Dr. Meredith Grey: Hero of Spite and Tragic
Still, fans of Grey's Anatomy won't have to make the leap from using sex as a weapon to using "Summon Phoenix" as a weapon in order to enjoy HoMM 5. There are other similarities, as well. For instance:
| Grey's Anatomy | Heroes of Might and Magic V |
| Characters take turns being mean to one another. | Characters take turns stabbing and shooting arrows at one another. |
| Show developers made the bold choice to cast mostly unattractive actors and actresses | Game developers made the bold choice to render mostly unattractive and logically...uh...proportioned characters. |
| "Seriously!" | "Griffin eternal!" |
| Characters sometimes heal patients with their medical expertise. | Heroes sometimes heal warriors with a first aid tent and increased healing power. |
| Grey's Anatomy spun off a new show with even more annoying/whiney but better looking actors and actresses, including that guy from Wings. | Heroes of Might and Magic V spun off a couple expansion packs, which most likely feature something with wings. |
So, you see, are they really all that different? Of course they are. I'm not fooling anyone. But, fact of the matter is that there are no Mac games like Grey's Anatomy (thank God), and there are no TV shows like HoMM 5 (thank God). I'm doing the best I can, here, people. Besides, HoMM 5 really is a very good game, so I want to give it some props. I very much doubt any fan of Grey's Anatomy is going to take comfort in HoMM 5. If you're in my situation, though, it'll give you something to do while your wife watches the show when it comes back on the air. You'll be happier, and since you won't be around the TV to make fun of the show, it could just save your marriage.
Learn more about Heroes of Might and Magic V.
Heroes of Might and Magic V Applelinks review
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Tags: Blogs ď AbsurdNotion ď
Can we make any assumptions based on this - example - the doctor belonging to multiple medical groups is possibly not getting enough patients in one medical group and hence needs to list himself in multiple medical groups. Similarly can we also assume the doctor belonging to just one medical group is able to sustain herself with enough patients in just that medical group and hence possibly slightly better?