After over a year of half-ass video game playing, including time periods where I would play nothing but Guitar Hero and Rock Band, I'm finally rediscovering my video game spark. Since I am currently unemployed, graduated from high school and not yet in college, and almost completely lacking in a life of any sort, over the last few weeks I've had a sudden craving for video games. Although I should get a job soon and that will greatly cut into my free time, at the moment I am trying to cram in as much video game-playing as is possible. My brother moved back into the house and fortunately brought many of his games with him. I was able to re-acquire a Call of Duty 4 CD key from him and have been vigorously playing that for the last few days. I've discovered that I'm not that bad at it. I basically picked up right where I left off in terms of skill, and it's a blast.
Also among his collection of games, I have found such games as Fallout 3, Mass Effect, F.E.A.R., Prey, and even Diablo II, which I never played. Disks for all of these games are missing, so hopefully he has them lying around somewhere - I have 1 of 2 discs for 4 of those 5 games, lol. Thanks to my brother for being so horribly organized! The only complete game there is Diablo II. As soon as I get the time, I will install Diablo II and play a classic that I've missed out on all these years. I'm also hoping that I can get back my copy of Civilization III from my friend, who borrowed it once many months ago. Man that is such a great game - I know I could still get many many many more tens or even hundreds of hours of enjoyment out of that game. That is a game that is so infinitely addictive and replayable that I wouldn't be surprised to see myself coming back to it 10 years down the road (or more!).
Right now my severe lack of money is a pretty big problem. There are so many great recent games that I'm interested in, but I have NO MONEY to buy them with, and I'm afraid that by the time I do get the money, the time for many of them will have passed me by. Once again I'm starting to feel that pinch of being overwhelmed with games. But there are other things that I have to spend money on too. Expensive things that are top priority, such as helping pay rent, getting a new monitor to replace this old piece of crap, my cell phone bill, and driving lessons. Assuming my brother and I can find all of his disks for Mass Effect and Fallout 3, my first gaming priority will undoubtedly be Left 4 Dead. I also plan to upload Steam and download Half-Life 2: Episode Two - can't leave me hanging with that cliffhanger on Episode 1! In fact, maybe I'll just try to get most of these games on Steam.
Looking forward to some of these future games also has me very excited. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is supposedly coming at the end of this year and man I can't wait. I don't see any reason to get World at War if the direct sequel to Call of Duty 4 is coming so soon. I also can't WAIT for BioShock 2. Just thinking about a sequel to such an epic game has me very excited. Hopefully Red Faction 3 will be good too.
And STARCRAFT II! Every day my anticipation for this game builds and builds. I simply cannot WAIT for the epic storyline, intense gameplay, and countless hours of mindless enjoyment that it's bound to provide. From watching videos and reading about the abilities of the races, it seems that the core gameplay remains pretty well intact and has actually been improved. Each race looks thoroughly more powerful and balanced, and the game looks just as great and fluid as the first game. But I'm most excited for the storyline. Damn I CAN'T WAIT!!
Hopefully my renewed gaming spark is here to stay. I've been craving them so bad lately it should at least last me for a while, and with so many great games I'm missing out on...oh baby.
With my renewed sense of determination, you can also expect more game ratings and reviews soon. I was discouraged by GameSpot's new rating system for a while, but I've gotten over it and now plan to exploit it to its full advantages. Not that it has any - it still sucks.