This has been going on in my head for a while now. Do we play the game or does the game play you ?

Let me elaborate, this last few weeks, I have been playing Arkham City.. Wonderful game no doubt. If it weren't for Skyrim, Batman : Arkham City would have bagged the game of the year for sure. In my own opinion, Arkham scored more than Skyrim. But then again, I'm a complete Batman fan.

So the last week I was engrossed playing Arkham City. Day after day I would go home from work, plug in my PS3 and beat the hell out of thugs. I completed the game in 2 weeks, spending about three to four hours every day. I had played it before, so the story was not new to me.

However there was a potentially noticeable change in my own behavior. No, not that I completed the game faster than before.. Or that I got my hands on more of Riddler's trophies than I did in the first time through. The change I'm talking about was in my day-day behavior.

I started seeing things differently. Each time I stepped out of my house, I would check all possible roof tops. Trying to find spots where I can safely watch over this corner of town. Or look for ledges from where I can glide from. My search of gargoyles has never been fruitful as of yet, not that I stopped looking.

Complete strangers, or friends I encountered walking in a mall, or just crossing a street, I could feel my thumbs push down the 'square' button. I was definitely trying to take them down. More the hits, better the combo right ..?

What's more interesting is the way I would walk into buildings - Taking one step at a time, slowly measuring each moment. Every corner I would slow down and slightly peek to make sure no Arkham thug spots me. I now know where every vent in my Office is and what the fastest way is to the parking lot, where I park my Batmobile.

Games we play have an effect on us. They inspire us, they thrill us and push us into a world where the story teller's fantasies and our realities mix up seducing us to stay there forever. It's not just this game, but every successful story that can pull you in, gets to you.

Assassins Creed is one such title. I remember walking with such stride and attitude while I was playing Assassins Creed : Brotherhood, Imagining myself as Ezio, walking through the streets of the holy City. I would wear long sleeved shirts imagining holding a hidden blade underneath. Walking past people, I remember twisting my wrist, as if performing a silent kill. I would then grin as if another assassination was successfully done, not caring how idiotic I looked or behaved. I even dusted my old jacket that had a nice hood to it. Wearing one during the winter was a decent idea, but walking with a hood indoors wasn't me being inconspicuous.

There were times when Games were only played for passing time, or as a test of ones strategy. But times have changed. Games are more than just a way to tune your eye to finger co-ordination.

Games today go a lot deeper. They tend to pull you into their universe. Share their deep dark secrets, their brilliance echoes through their storytelling and character design. And midst all this, you tend to lose yourself in the storyteller's creation. You tend to imagine yourself as the part of that universe as if it's incomplete without you. I remember having a tough time deciding if I wanted to cure the Genophage or kill Mordin during Mass Effect 3. That game is full of such decisions.

Games these days are dark, they aren't just hack and slash fun, although there's nothing wrong with such titles. Games these days make you think. They make you question your own believes. Bioshock : Infinite is one such example. Or Dishonored that I played a few months ago.

If you chose to, you can just play the game and not really care about anything. Level up and just complete your mission, one chapter after another. But if you dare, give in a moment and try to see what's being told. Try to see between the frames. The story teller has a lot in store for you. It only depends on you, what you can take back.

The colorful world of Dunwall may seem like a Tesla rich Victorian England with beautiful decors and NPCs with some basic functionality. Look carefully, and pay more attention to the world around you, and you witness todays world re-painted with beautiful Victorian backgrounds and characters that depict modern day problems with a strong story tangled in between that makes you question your own morals.

Playing God of War makes you feel like the king of the world, or more like the God of the Gods as you enjoy Kratos brutally kill everything that stands in his way. You tend to sympathize with the mortal as you learn more about his dark and agonizing story. You feel his pain and his desperation to seek revenge as the game progresses. All the rage and anger was evident when I completed God of War 3. It took me more than a minute to realize that Zeus was dead as I kept hitting the square button, smashing his face as the screen filled with red.

These storytellers have a way of getting into your head. They present a world of possibilities and let your mind dance in it, weaving webs of stories and possible endings that you challenge your friends with.

It is this excitement that every gamer tends to enjoy that brings out the true purpose of the game. But then again, who is it that's playing here. The gamer who controls the character and leads him to victory ? Or the game, that incepts the fantasy world into the player and takes him on a magical journey ? Is the game to blame for the change in my behavior, or is it me with my hyper imagination that sees an approaching crow as a dragon ? Whatever the answer, I am glad I belong to this generation where I enjoy a good story where I am part of it, where I bring it to conclusion the way I want to.