My love-hate relationship with games

To start, I want to clarify that I do love these games. I am aiming to show you why it is a good thing that even the best games have flaws. Whether they have characters that are so two-dimensional, their personality resembles nothing more than a potato; or the guns shoot out marshmallows at raging ravenous zombies (metaphorically – that would be hilarious). Their flawscan even make them more loveable. If you don’t believe me then I’ll lay out some examples. Oh and that uber sexy guy to the right is not me.

Portal has created the worst meme ever.

The cake isn’t a lie. Anybody who played Portal 1 to the end and actually paid attention would know that. The Cake is sitting by itself looking, albeit lonely, but very real. Besides, the cakey references are only funny when they are spoken by the computerised and psychotic words of GLaDOS. We all know that guy, a co-worker or a friend, who repeats jokes so many times that whenever you hear it you want to tear your ears off. That’s what every Portal cake reference has become.

Therefore, maybe what I’m trying to say here is that Portal is too witty; it touched the hearts of the fans so much that it became a phenomenon. Perhaps the flaw in Portal is the fans themselves – we don’t learn to appreciate the little things but we demand to have everything in excess by creating globalised memes. Admittedly, every time I play Portal I love it, but the jokes sadden me, because my friends and the internet have ruined them for me.

If you haven’t indulged in this physics-based puzzle game then we’ll call some people to have that rock removed from above you, and you should play it.

Bioshock is based on the worst book ever written.

Also known as ‘Atlas Shrugged’ by Ayn Rand, Bioshock’s story was born from this dystopian/science-fiction novel published in 1957. As an avid fan of dystopian literature such as ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ ‘Brave New World’ and ‘A Clockwork Orange,’ and of the Bioshock games; I thought this book would be climbing up my list of favourites. However, unlike the novels I mentioned above, the writing is terrible and overall it is just so pretentious, that sales have sky-rocketed as hipsters long to carry it around in their arms in public places. In fact, I did not purchase Bioshock 1 until a year after its 2008 release because the prospect that it would even remotely reflect ‘Atlas Shrugged’ put me off completely. The idea that a game was being made based on a thousand-page book was laughable.

But I did buy the game. And I loved every minute of it. And I loved every minute of it because I revelled in the setting and the story. The basis of Bioshock is a terrible book, and this flaw makes the game that much better, because writer Ken Levine picked out the parts in the book that he felt could be good and made a fantastic, atmospheric game out of the worst book ever written.

 

Call of Duty is the most generic FPS ever.

Okay, I can practically hear the buzzing of angry CoD fans swarming towards the comments section but hear me out. Call of Duty incorporates blank, lifeless characters into a game that reaches no more technical depth than “shoot anyone not shooting at you.” To which I’m sure there will be responses saying that the levelling system on the multiplayer and the range of gun choices makes the game more realistic and gives you a greater sense of achievement. But, let’s face it, once you get to a fairly standard level where you have a decent sniper rifle and an assault rifle that doesn’t shoot marshmallows, you’re sorted. It is all pretty generic stuff here, bar the perk system which has now replicated by every game under the sun.

Despite this, Call of Duty 4 managed to gain 13 million players on Xbox Live alone in 2009 (as reported by Joystiq) and this is probably because of the simplicity of it. Because of how generic the game is it attracts a lot of players, and so Infinity Ward/Treyarch put in more effort to make the gameplay smooth and efficient. It’s generally nothing special, but that’s what has given it its popularity. No matter what time I’m online, there will be someone on my friends list playing COD and that’s why its great. The popularity make COD quality multiplayer game, but make sure the series stays to a static formula.  For me, and other gamers out there, Call of Duty is my guilty pleasure.

Battlefield is impossible to lose if you get the vehicles.

I don’t mean the buggies or the tanks; I’m talking about the helicopters and the boats. Obviously you can see where I’m coming from on the topic of the helicopters because if you learn to use them well you can cause a serious amount of damage on the ground, and there is very little the people on the ground can do to take you down. If you’ve played a game of Battlefield where the enemy gets hold of a helicopter and uses it relentlessly and aggravatingly well, then you know how it feels to watch your kill/death ratio gradually worsen. Boats can be just as lethal. I know this isn’t always true for every level, but I noticed it particularly after playing a few games on the map ‘Hill 137’ on Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam. Whoever gets the boat always seems to win. This didn’t register in my head as a possibility until I was on the team that didn’t have the boat. I could be minding my own business, creeping along a path with my handgun at the ready, next thing I know I’ve been shot. This is the closest I’ve come to rage quitting (but I’m not that person) because it was happening over and over again.

However, I calmed down (eventually) and took a more objective look at the multiplayer. Statistically speaking, you’re going to get the boat 50% of the time, and so 50% of the time you’re going to immensely enjoy yourself. Battlefield is a good game, and yes it is more challenging to play online than Call of Duty, but the vehicles are fun to use in an almost childish way. They are great when you have them, but horrible when you don’t.  Also, on the other side of the spectrum, it’s healthy to lose once in a while.

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