Discovery
Whenever I discover a gameplay mechanic that has tactical depth but that still manages to keep the gameplay exciting and fresh I’ve always leaped on it with every available limb.
There are few that capture my imagination for years at a time...but there was one.
It took my gameplaying soul for 2 years solid when it was released in 2003 and it was called Call of Duty.
A new Religion
It didn’t just change my game playing life, it actually changed my real life. I’m not just spouting exaggerations here. The term “hooked” would be an understatement CoD became GoD (well almost!). It made gaming a central part of my life...I was on a voyage of discovery and I went on to join my first game “clan”, and eventually form my own gaming community.
Oh dear it all got far too serious..
No game had this effect on me before, so why CoD? Well for one I was (and still am) very interested in WW2 history, and a big fan of movies like Saving Private Ryan which CoD took a LOT of inspiration from. Secondly the multiplayer FPS gameplay was (and still is) sublime. As someone who had dabbled in MOHAA and Halo online previously, CoD was in a different league entirely. I went on to participate in hundreds of clan matches and my own clan even went on to win a couple of “realism” tournaments. Gaming had suddenly gone from something I did for an hour a day to something I took seriously and spent far too many hours every day on.
However although CoD changed my life, and I met some great people through the leagues and communities (that I still talk to this day) - I also missed out on a whole bunch of other great titles, mainly single player games.
Before CoD I was the kind of gamer who read CVG and maybe bought something new every 1-2 months minimum so it was weird that CoD totally engulfed my time, and whilst I dabbled in some other titles (mainly multiplayer) nothing took my fancy until Red Orchestra, and that was mainly down to my loathing of CoD2. When that came out my love affair with CoD was over...
Tick tock...
Since leaving that whole scene behind me in early 2008, I’ve been kind of playing catch up. I’ve felt like I missed out on so much in that time and I’ve had a strong desire to play as many titles as possible, and experience what I was (apparently) missing! Hence why last year on average I finished more than one game per week. An insane figure for a working family man with 3 kids, and some of those games I finished three times for Christs sake! Is that an addiction or a serious hobby? I'll leave that for you to decide.
A New year resolution
This year I decided I’d play much less and try to do some real things with my life such as finish my house and set up a new business. Not because I was dissatisfied with gaming, but because my responsibilities needed 100% of my focus far more often than I was giving them. I guess you could say I was trying to replace CoD with JoB. It's not always easy to change your ways and habits though, and I'm very pleased to say that I'm not perfect in the slightest! I will be intent on doing something and I will not always succeed.
Some may call that bulllshit...I call it reality. (sorry if I'm losing you here...read on!)
This weekend
So whilst playing Dante’s Inferno this weekend it has helped me realise that I’ve now hit a critical mass in my gaming "career".
•I’m no longer awed.
•I’m no longer excited.
•I’m bored rigid of the same gameplay mechanics being rinsed and repeated.
There is currently a critical mass of solid (some would describe “good”) games on the market.
Too many of you I’m sure this is a total boon. Dante’s Inferno for example has AMAZING art direction, the imagination the designers had for some of the characters is astonishing. But it’s no longer disguising the fact that I’m basically doing the same old thing that I was in God of War years ago.
It’s old. It’s dull and I’m bored of it, so...
Moving on
This is why Mount & Blade, despite it’s dowdy graphics and stale dialogue could possibly outstrip the almighty Mass Effect 2 as my favourite game of 2010. Ok so technically it’s not going to win any 2010 GOTY awards, but it feels fresh and exciting and I DON’T feel like I’ve done it before. In a word it's special. I urge you to ignore the hype for the current supposed masterpiece and dig deep...
Look in your gaming closet
I have decided to cease my rental agreement with Boomerang. Although they provide an excellent service for gamers their just aren’t enough DIFFERENT games out there to justify the rental cost in my view....and I'm sure MANY of you will disagree with me as there is a large list of high quality games scheduled for release this year....but...but...are they actually going to blow your socks off? Seriously? Probably not.
Gaming has reached a critical mass this generation. There is so little that is new. Indeed almost everything these days seems to be “gears of war with colours” or “gears of war with a great titted baboon” or “gears of war with..” .
Well you get the idea.
There is no doubt in my mind Gears OWNS this generation, it’s influence is astonishing, but also worrying. Anyway...
Before CoD
Instead of feeling that I simply must experience everything on the market, This year I will choose my experiences wisely (I will try). The older I get the time I spend on the mediocre gets more expensive every year.
I already have some fantastic games in my cupboard, Ace Combat 6, SF4, Battlefield, Forza 3, Mass Effect 2 to name a few...honestly why was I playing all this other mediocre-seen-it-all-before BS!?
So get more from what you already own.
Stunlock confirmed to Wccftech PC-PS5 crossplay for V Rising is 'pretty unlikely'. They also commented on potential ports to other consoles.
The cover art for Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows has been leaked online, and it confirms that the game will feature dual protagonists.
The samurai dude is black....because of course he is. Because that makes total f***ing sense. I honestly wouldn't expect anything less from Ubisoft.
Yasuke, he was a samurai who served under Nobunaga and was in fact black. However that is where his foot note in history begins and ends as he seemingly did nothing of note throughout his service.
There are far better general's they could have focused on who had major moments in history... But nope.
EDIT: I do want to add though, that since there is nothing of note from him in history, it does open up what you can do from a fictional writing stand point.
You are such a dumb ass racist, I honestly wouldn't expect anything less from you either.
Gaming has given birth to some of the best DLCs ever made that enhance the base game significantly. Here are a few top recommendations.
Good read. People can still game here and there even though doing other things. When duty calls and be it a job, family, gf or anything that needs to be done then do it. But We all need something to occupy us with. A few hours of gaming is better than none at all imo.
It is totally very good information gives for us. I read this totally articles and very well write..
http://www.articlesbase.com...
Hi Guise my name is shun tat,I read this total article. This articel give us some thing about on this topic..
http://www.articlesbase.com...