Playing games this week...

Has seen me enjoy the experience of Operation Flashpoint. I am on the last level, and in doing that I am attacking the final base. While I have died several times, I have enjoyed, somehow, playing through this last part.

In addition, I have really got into PES2009. I am enjoying winning the games, and doing well. I do not enjoy winning 2-1 with Porto on the more difficult level.

Read more »

Three times

I have played a good number of games the past few weeks. The focus of this shall be PES 2009.

The become a legend mode has always held some interest. The issue is, of course, that the vertical camera used often does not aid my skills and experience in using the wide camera. As such, I was utterly unable to score, or even play, in the vertical mode.

Interestingly enough, I had a housemate who persevered with this mode for something like three seasons. When you bear in mind this can be 40 games or more, at ten minutes each, this is a substantial amount of time. Add to this the fact that he scored something like 2-3 goals in an entire season, and those goals were always tackling a defend, or hitting in a rebound.

So why play it? Why suffer this frankly atrocious gameplay? Because the idea is good enough. And since the idea is good enough, everything else is secondary.

So what difference has the normal camera made? I have given it a good few hours this week, and feel happy to pick it up every so often. It is quite brilliant. At times frustrating, yes. But the Master League is more frustrating in the sense that my team is too good for the mid level now. And the top level is simply too hard with the rubbish team given at the start. Perhaps starting on the hardest difficulty with Wolves is an apt balance?

In all of this is something that I read in PC gamer: that some games are best played on the easiest difficulty setting. So many games are about that this is, in some ways, the best (only) option for a busy teacher like myself. This time saving option has led to one new consideration: I play until I die three times at the same point. At the moment in Operation Flashpoint (which I do enjoy) I am dying at a similar point whilst assaulting a village in what must be the final mission of the campaign. With this in mind, I play until I die three times.

There are some games, too, that I want to give time to. This Christmas shall see to that...

Read more »

Gaming

I would like to make some points on gaming as they stand now. They only link in the sense that they are in my mind, and on my mind. There is not much else.

a) I recently stopped playing games, perhaps even for 3-4 weeks. When I logged onto steam, I simply saw a list of game names. For some reason, this did not make me want to play them. Having put my games into a new list, I have begun playing many old and new games. So, firstly, it seems clear to me that I need to reorganise my games. In fact, I am waiting with anticipation for when Steam allows organisation by tags, rather than by just category.

I also spoke with someone who spoke negatively of gaming. The arguments are clear: why should play stop when you hit 18? Why do I need to passively imbibe relaxation through a film/book/TV when I can play a game? Is there a media that is quite as immersive? And, the clearest point, does this matter to the person? Perhaps so, if they are potentially important. But, hey.

b) I purchased a new mouse today. I played CoD 4, and found that I completed a level on hardened without dying once. Normally I die dozens of times, inching my way through each one. Now I am able to headshot with much more accuracy. It lies next to me now flashing colours. How quite enjoyable!

c) Empire Total War requires much playing for not much reward. However, undoubtedly MUCH playing will give MUCH reward. The question to ask, though, is do I have the time to give much playing? Which brings me to my main thought at this time.

Do I have time to give to games? During the summer, I did not want to play games. I was too busy working. Is that a way to be? Are there times to play games, and times to not play games? This Xmas, for example, will be a time. Will it?

d) COD 7 is broken. It crashes, misses frames, has a cheesy story. It was full-price, and purchase on the recommendation of a friend. I did pop-culture, got burnt. I purchased it to purchase it. On the other hand, Company of Heroes is fantastic.

Read more »

FPS

FPS games have caught my attention over the past few months. Mostly because I don't have much time, and in doing so have found can offer an easy way to immerse myself in.

Have played - New Zealand Story, Amiga. Iconic game, classic music, just bloody weird.

Playing - Black Ops. Broken game, reasonable for a blockbuster, not worth the money.

Read more »

RTS

RTS games often require much time. They are, in some ways, the pinnacle of PC gaming. As a hobby, an RTS require the management of people, resources and time in the way indicative of a real-life intelligence.

However, they often require time that a working professional cannot always give. However, the modern RTS game seem to have the benefit of guiding the gamer through the mechanics. For example, Dawn of War is able to guide the gamer through a series of ever increasing meetings.

Have played - Megalomana. As an Amiga RTS game, it was superb. Quirky, detailed and with an intricate system of battling.

Playing - Empire Total War. It seems difficult, to say the least.

Read more »

So what's this all about?

It's a Sunday afternoon here on Britain's lovely Northern coast. Outside it's sunny, if a little cold, and inside here I am typing away at this new blog.

What does it intend to do? It intends to look back on some classic gaming moments in my life, look at my gaming habits now, as a professional in his late 20s, and review/complain/eulogise about some of the current games I'm playing.


So!

Looking back

I remember playing a hideous Amiga game - full priced at £20, which was utterly unworth the quality of the game - that was a mash of riding on a 2D boat avoiding monsters dropping stones, generic sea-side arcade sidegames, and a chess board that shot snakes and eyes at you. The instructions didn't really explain what was happening, there were no continues, and only three lives. Hours were spent playing the games that didn't kill you, getting money (or not) for shops that didn't exist. The boat level didn't seem to have an end, and may have even looped. It was, in all, a lazy game. But back then, in the early 1990s, did I expect anything else?

Having just spoke to my good friend Nick, and spending a good 20 minutes looking through a newly-found website of Amiga game box scans, I have found the sod. http://www.lemonamiga.com/?mainurl=http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/list.php%3F%26list_language%3DEnglish%26lineoffset%3D2754

And the manual? A wikipedia entry.



Right now

I have recently (since December 2009) begun to play games again. I stopped playing games as a hobby at about the 2003/4 era. Before that I had a rich history, and an enjoyable imaginative life. Right now, this weekend, I have purchased COD6 and completed it. I applauded with laughter the climax of many of the levels. It is a quite brilliant pick-up-and-play game. Unlike above.

Read more »