Uninspired Again

It pains me to write this but my recent experience with games hasn't been an inspring one.

I played some Team Fortress 2 on the PC last night, a rarity as I tend to play it mostly on the weekend when I've had a drink or two, so I thought perhaps I'd be a bit better and score higher being sober and all that. No chance. In fact it didn't matter what class I chose, it just didn't happen.

Halo 3 next. I thought I'd complete the game properly seeing as it didn't count the chapter I did co-op as counting, the bloody thing. So I had a go but got so cheesed off I packed that in.

In other Halo 3 news I had another crack at it online with a few friends, and whilst I wasn't absolutely awful I was still knocking around the bottom of the table again, seemingly waiting to respawn more than actually playing it. My rank did go up a few notches, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

Apart from that I really can't be bothered to play much more. Despite a great start I find myself not being drawn back to Far Cry 2, and Quake Live doesn't draw me in either.

It's all a bit stale really. Hopefully this is the lull before the great resurgence.

"Right, it's on!"

Once again it's been a fair while since I posted, although I have a good excuse: I've been playing computer games. Yes, those timewasters.

The most-played game recently has to be Far Cry 2 on the PC. I saw it on Play.com for a tenner with the DLC included (that's downloadable content for those who probably didn't need to know). The first Far Cry didn't really click with me, at least on the PC. Here though for some reason it has grabbed me, albeit in a non-aggressive fashion.

Essentially you're a mercenary in some war-torn African country doing various tasks, although they all involve you driving somewhere (which takes bloody ages) then killing people. The landscape looks amazing, maybe not quite on Oblivion levels of gorgeousness but close. The day/night cycle is particularly impressive, nothing can beat driving along some dusty road into the sunset, except maybe the hugely-irritating roadblocks

They keep remanning these checkpoints with mouthy South Africans who drive straight at you shouting abuse. It really does hamper progress, having to keep stopping every 2 minutes to clean up these fools.

It's strange that at times I feel useless, I'll die and try again, yet if I push on it gets more enjoyable, like each death makes me think how I could approach that mission differently. It does a great job of letting you approach objectives in whatever way you like, although sniping is pretty much mandatory, which suits me down to the ground.

So yes, a tenner well spent there.

What else have I been playing? Let's see: more QuakeLive and Battlefield Heroes, more Halo 3 online - I'm still utterly useless. I even managed to get in a bit of Left 4 Dead seeing as theer is the new Survival Pack DLC just out. It's not bad although it didn't pull me back to that game as much as I thought it would, sadly.

Rant Alert

I wanted to do a seperate entry about why I'm going through all these online shooters as it's been on my mind alot recently.

Since playing Doom 2 on my mate Richard's work PC in 1994 I've loved the first-person shooter. Down the years I've played stacks, though never online until I got a broadband connection in 2002 and played some Quake III with people on an IRC channel I frequented at the time.

Here are a few of the online games I've tried:

• Counterstrike - first tried to play this on dial-up in 2001 but a thunderstorm cut the power. Never really bothered again until the release of Half-Life 2 in November 2004 when I thought it would be a good time to get into CS:Source. Played several unsatisfying games with randoms on public servers. With one-or-two-shot kills I spent more time waiting for the next round than actually playing. Great game, great concept, just not for my slack skills.
• Quake III Arena - mainly played with people I knew online, with the occasional random person joining in. I'd always end up at the bottom of the table although being fragged by friends is somehow less galling than being shot by strangers. Tried to carry on but it simply wasn't as enjoyable with strangers, something I've found to be the case with most games online.
• Quake Live - I managed to get an invite to the closed beta. It is essentially Quake III via a web browser, fast, simple fun, well that's the theory. I was totally slaughtered the moment I stepped on there, and what was worse - as I'm sure most people who've played online will atest - was being remind how crap I was by other players. Perseverence saw me get somewhere eventually - don't go near me when I have a shotgun - but I have a long way to go before I can comfortably say I'm okay at it.
• Battlefield 2 - see my last entry.
  
• Team Fortress 2 - now this is a little different. Was intrigued by this when it was first announced, but going by my previous experience thought I'd never get into it - I was wrong. Maybe it's the pace, or the wide variety of classes, or the comic violence, but it just somehow clicked with me. As has been mentioned here before I play on 360 with online friends and on the PC with randoms late Saturday nights (when I've had a few).
  

Despite all this I can't really say my skill has increased, and if it has it'll be minimal. However, I have to admit my poor eyesight may have something to do with it. I get the feeling I'm just not fast enough at spotting the enemy, and unless they have a big glowing arrow over their head I tend to be looking so hard I end up getting gunned down. This wouldn't be a problem if games didn't have friendly fire ...

Okay so why am I putting myself through all this pain? Basically I've found that, despite periods of total humiliation at the hands of online players I find that after a drink and with some decent tunes backed up on the MP3 player online shooters are really absorbing, when they're going well. Settling down for a couple of hours of TF2 is really satisfying.

I mentioned in my last entry that the Unreal Tournament 3 reviews I'd read were next to useless as they weren't written with new players in mind. It's something of a bugbear of mine that new players really aren't catered for. It's almost like developers have forgotten there are people out there who have been playing online FPSs for over a decade day in, day out. You'd think they'd be doing more to encourage new players, help them ease into the flow of the game rather than drop them in the deep end.

I'm not saying as a noob I need my hand held, but it would certainly be more encouraging if, when I go on a server, I know I won't get the shit kicked out of me the moment I hit 'ready'. Yes, I know it's a dilema that has faced various developers, some have tackled it better than others. Gears Of War 2 on the 360 has training rooms to help you prepare for online, Halo 3 has the beginner areas.

And the reviewers, whilst I don't need an online FPS explained to me it would be nice for them to acknowledge some people are coming to a game fresh, and not just pandering to the hardcore. Okay, I'm having a whine but again it's the attitude that discourages more people from playing.

You could come back to me and say well all these experts started somewhere, you didn't hear them moan about being a noob, true but as I said we've had a generation of rabid online players who could wipe the floor with new players with both arms tied behind their backs.

Right, rant over, make of it what you will. Maybe I should stop writing and start playing.