Don't always look for the latest "thing"...

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.