May, 3rd to 9th, 2015
Games Played: Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, Arma 3, Vagante, The Jackbox Party Pack
Hello and welcome to the inaugural review from The Twitch Review. We’re here to find and review streamers on twitch.tv so let’s get right to it.
This week we’re taking a look at a hot tempered destroyer of hardware with a heart of pure gold. This streamer is an entertainer who is almost always trying to put on a good and fun show until something goes horribly wrong whatever game he is playing. The streamer was selected for review for his showmanship and for the web of connections he has formed with many other streamers. Full disclosure here is that we have watched Ezekiel_III, or Zeke, for several months but for the purposes of this review we are only looking at what was viewed from May 3rd until May 9th; and has Zeke been a busy man.
From streaming Dark Souls II to co-hosting Dropped Frames to practicing for an Arma 3 competition to hyping an upcoming charity week, Zeke was streaming all but a single day during the review time. Many of the most memorable things happened during his playthrough of Dark Souls II though. He had a hilarious moment where he was showing off the beauty of his character and making unusual laughing sounds before falling to his death unintentionally(http://www.twitch.tv/ezekiel_iii/v/4703418). Then there was the moment where he was telling his viewers about how he fight by using his head, to yet again fall to his death by mistake(http://www.twitch.tv/ezekiel_iii/v/4716799). And there was also that time when he was using his smarts to try and blow up a cracked wall with a possibly explosive barrel only to completely waste his time(http://www.twitch.tv/ezekiel_iii/v/4717012).
In Arma 3 practice he struggled to learn the game but somehow managed to come out second place in a Battle Royal almost without firing his weapons. We also cannot forget to praise Tacorilla and do NOT call his stuffed cat a bear. You’ve been warned.
Zeke’s stream consistently has a simple layout that is unobtrusive and is effective. The quality of his webcam video is nice and the lighting works well to light up his face. He uses a green screen relatively well, but sometimes it can be seen bugging out on the edges of his body or in the background. He has a number of backdrops he uses when not playing games including flames when he welcomes new subscribers to his channel. While playing games he puts himself down in a corner and is big enough to see and not not be so big it’s distracting. When playing music he has the song name and the artist name displayed somewhere around the edges of the screen which is a nice touch.
When it comes to sound his microphone sounds pretty good and he consistently is able to balance the audio levels between his mic and the game he is playing well and neither were too loud compared to the other. When a new person subscribes to the channel you hear what sounds like a viking horn which leads to Zeke changing his voice with a mixer to be more loud and booming. When he receives a donation it plays a different sound depending on whatever Zeke feels like it should be for the day. The donation sound changed several times over the review period. While at least one never wore out it’s welcome, a weird laughing sound, some of the alert sounds became annoying over time, especially the sounds that were over 2 seconds. Many times Zeke would be talking to his viewers only to be completely interrupted by his donation alert.
This stream’s focus seems to be on entertaining the viewers and a mix between fun and excitement with periods of calm with sudden outbursts of rage. Zeke is always interacting with his audience and majority of that interaction is calm and welcoming. He is prone to notice and respond to things females say, but that doesn’t seem to be something intentional. That doesn’t mean he ignores the rest of his viewer and calmly will repeat the same answer over and over if he needs to. Every new subscriber get’s their own special flame filled welcome and every donation is read. Zeke even goes out of his way to thank the lurkers, people who don’t type in chat but watch his stream, with a toast to their support.
As a result, the community around the stream feels pleasant and welcoming to new people whether they have subscribed to the channel or not. Even in an open chat, which is becoming less common among popular streamers because of all the negativity and stupidity people can spout, it is overwhelmingly positive. This kind of community is a direct result of how Zeke interacts and talks to his audience. That said though, if also feels like a lot of his community is there just waiting to see Zeke flip out and rage and scream and sometimes break stuff. They’re just waiting for that moment Zeke’s face turns red with anger to laugh at his reactions. It’s similar to Nascar fans who watch in hopes of seeing a wreck. It should be said it’s rare to see Zeke ever rage at anything other than himself and the games he plays. The rage is never directed at his viewers which may be why they wait so eagerly to see the reactions that anger brings, especially when things are broken.
Ezekiel_III’s stream comes across as a welcoming channel where you can come relax and have fun with a streamer who will try his best to put on an exciting and fun show. If you enjoy watching somebody get upset and scream when something in his game goes wrong then this stream is going to be great for you. However, if you are more inclined to a fun relaxed stream that inclination may be disrupted when you’re causally watching and Zeke flips out and scares you out of your seat with just how loud he can yell. If screaming and yelling bother you then you may want to try another channel. That’s not to say Zeke isn’t a wonderfully nice streamer who’s best intentions can be smothered by his sometimes over-the-top reaction to frustration. It doesn’t matter that 99% of the stream is fun and positive if that positivity can be turn down with negativity in under a second.
Despite that many of his viewers enjoy watching the destruction that comes with the anger, many of the most memorable and fun moments came not when Zeke was upset but when he was laughing and having genuine fun. That insanely weird laughter will still be ringing in people head for a long time to come. The Twitch Review gives a cautious recommendation based on how well you like or don’t like seeing and hearing rage in it’s purest form.
The Twitch Review LIKES Ezekiel_III.
If you’d like to check out Ezekiel_III for yourself they stream at http://www.twitch.tv/ezekiel_iii.
The Twitch Review 