Some Gaming Taste Buds

New and impressive games are coming out all the time; whether they're small, independently developed titles or big budget, triple A titles. So many games beg for our gaming attention, and usually, the big budget games are the first to take hold. I enjoy playing a lot of these games as well, especially games like Grand Theft Auto, Assassin's Creed, Far Cry 3, and Skyrim. Some of these games never really caught on with me though; games like Uncharted and Mass Effect. I've tried again and again to give these games a chance, and each time I do, they never succeed to impress me. Finally, I've been able to put my thumb on why this is, and I've made this blog to explain why these amazing games aren't so amazing to me.

Uncharted is developed and published by Naughty Dog and Sony respectively; two of my favorite gaming companies. The Jak and Daxter series was such a huge part of my childhood, as was Crash Bandicoot. I loved every minute of those games, and when I bought my PS3, one of the first games I picked up was Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. I purchased this on the premise that it was a Naughty Dog game, so it had to be amazing. The fact that the main protagonist shared my name wasn't a bad thing either. I remember thinking about how amazing the graphics were, but that was really the only high point for me in the game. The story didn't captivate me at all, and the gameplay was far from perfect. I quickly noticed that the fire fights were hardly fair, sending hundreds upon hundreds of enemies at Nathan, who always seems to be low on ammo. The platforming was fun enough, but not really challenging. The lack luster, unfair gunplay, simple platforming, and uninteresting story made me quit the game at about chapter eleven. For me, the game wasn't that important, and I just couldn't finish it. Later, when Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was released, I tried it out over at a friends house. This one certainly felt more cinematic than the first, but when it came down to it, was the same game with a different plot. The biggest disappointment was that it was made by Naughty Dog and I should have loved it, but I didn't.

Being primarily a PS3 gamer, I never got the opportunity to play the first Mass Effect when it was originally launched on the Xbox 360. When the Mass Effect Trilogy was announced, I figured it was a good time to pick it up and give it a try. Now, I am not a fan of BioWare. I tried playing Dragon Age, and I absolutely hated it. I felt like it was a horrible PC port to console that shouldn't have happened. Anyway, I decided that maybe Mass Effect would be different given that it has been critically acclaimed throughout the series. I started the first game and found that I was wrong. The gunplay was completely useless, (as was the cover system) and even if the gunplay was fixed, I felt that the battles would still feel dull. The leveling system and RPG elements also seemed to lack focus, and they didn't feel thought out. I found that the best part about the game was the story, which was pretty interesting. I liked that my character had a voice, and that I got to choose what he said. Given that the story was interesting and I was starting to care about my characters, I was set to finish the first game. Mass Effect, however, decided that it didn't want me to finish the game and inflicted a game-breaking glitch that stopped me from continuing my 8 hours of progress. I was thoroughly disheartened, but instead of giving up on the series, I read the first games story online and proceeded to start the second game. I found that the same problems were in this one, but I will admit that the gunplay was fixed slightly; however, the cover system was not. After about 5 hours through, the story wasn't enough to keep me invested anymore. For the second time I was confused as to what all the fuss was about with this acclaimed series.

I understand that these games are important to the gaming world. They obviously brought something very unique and entertaining to the proverbial table. Uncharted tells a unique story and creates characters that we as gamers come to care about. Mass Effect alone has sparked much controversy involving its' ending, spawned its' very own comic series, and has even been deemed as one of the best space sci-fi's of all time. The gaming world would certainly be much different without these games. To me though, these games aren't very important. I've given them the best chance to win me over, and they failed to do so. I wish that I liked these games. I could share in stories that only people who've played Mass Effect 1 through 3 would know, and I could say that Naughty Dog has never let me down. I can't share those stories or say those things because gaming is subjective. A developer could make the most technical, beautiful, enthralling game ever, and there will always be someone that doesn't like what they've done. Everyone has their own tastes, and apparently, mine are somewhat weird. But that's okay, because I like them.