Thoughts In The Key Of N

Just this morning I noticed that we are most of the way through August, and that I did not provide an update on my Shameless Gaming Month activities…Activities that officially spanned July 1st to July 31st. I regret to admit that the reason for this is not that I became irresistibly enthralled in my gaming to the point that both the established month and following weeks blurred by me in some form of power-up hunting frenzy. Rather it’s because I failed in my duties as a passionate and dedicated gamer, and real life intervened in such a way that the days flew by just as quickly, but jam-packed with other endeavours. And so that is why I am here today, accepting my suspension from you, my Police Captain-style overseer.

 

 

At this point my analogy breaks down, because I’m pretty sure cops CAN take other cops off the streets. That’s sort of what being a cop is all about. Anyway, my jurisdictional confusion aside, I’m going to name my shame (doubly so, as it is), and let you know what I learnt. That’s the point of punishment, right? Educate the offender? (That’s why people do degrees in jail, yeah?)

 

 

XCOM – I got nowhere. Worse than nowhere, I fell into this ridiculous “groundhog day” cycle. My save game is at a point where there is about two weeks of game time to prep for the big UFO. In this time, I research, I deploy super-duper fighter jets, I buy the best arms and armour a black-ops budget can afford. Then, with extra-terrestrial weapons, I take the UFO down and launch an attack on the crash site…and get turned into a human-flavoured paste. It’s ridiculous. No matter the approach, the tactics or paranoid planning, they beat me every time. A quick Google Search on “XCOM Overseer UFO” revealed to me how messed-up hard this bit is, so I don’t feel TOO bad about it. (But I do.)

 

Dead Space 2 – Didn’t touch it in any meaningful way. A while ago on twitter, I asked for a definition of that scenario where you have a saved game at such a point you have low-ammo, low-health, and bugger-all options. I didn’t get a satisfactory word for it, but THAT is my Dead Space 2 saved game. I don’t think I’ll ever finish this.*

 

Borderlands 2 – A HAPPY STORY! There has been renewed interest in this title, seeing my brothers and I taking on Pandora in a variety of ways. I’ve knocked over a good half of the story in True Vault Hunter Mode (harder than hard) and enjoying it immensely. I also managed to get a bit of level progression in on my second character. PROGRESS = SUCCESS.

 

Warhammer Quest – I don’t even know why I added this, it was essentially joyously flogging a happy dead horse. I didn’t level, I didn’t make any progress. However, I did end the career of a few particularly ugly Orc Chieftains, and spring cleaned my inventory. Why? I could say it’s because I’m preparing for the impending expansion, or I could admit it was probably more because I wanted to crawl a dungeon…

 

Injustice: Gods Among Us – Progress in this one has slowed to almost a crawl. I completed the challenges offered to me, unlocking a Batgirl and a Zod. (I like putting the indefinite article in there, it makes them sound like Pokemon). However, the actual progression of the game has gone almost no where. From watching Bane increase in size (I’ve been subbing characters for variety), I’ve come to the realisation that my “A Team” of Batman, Black Adam and Prison Superman is flawed. Prison Supes in particular is a bit of a waif.

 

The Secret World – Barely touched it, but that’s because of a new sense of unease. Keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming diatribe entitled “Beating Up Creatures Of Potentially Dark Origin Is A Form Of Racism That Doesn’t Bother Me”.
It might get a catchier title.

 

If I learned anything from this exercise it was thus: sometimes I get stuck not because of time, but because of ability. That, and I still have no ability to stick to a writing deadline. Unfortunately it sounds to me like I have a limited gaming skill, which as a concept infuriates me. So I’ll have to rectify this. Who knows? Maybe I can have Dead Space 2 finished by next August…