And so, after nearly five weeks, my Halo: Reach flame has burnt itself out.
The beginning of the week was fine; I’d just hit the rank of General, and my daily inclination of 25,000 cRedits was proving to be pretty easy going. Grab the Dailies, pop into Grifball, a couple of games of Slayer, have a little Firefight Doubles session. Tuesday night saw my cRedits-in-hand break two million – enough to purchase the single most expensive item in the Armory, the Inclement Weather armor effect. Bought and equipped, it seemed to turn me into a target in Multiplayer Matches – Grifball is now insanely silly, with the opposition drawn to the lightning & black storm-clouds surrounding me.
But, thereafter, I lost something. Willpower, I think it was.
The climb to the next rank was a bit of a struggle, and even though the increments between ranks has dropped to a less daunting 150,000 cR, I’m just not feeling it anymore. The fun grind has been reduced to just a grind (with a few bits of fun mixed in).
It might be time to focus on something else, I reckon. I’ve gained about 1.4 million cRedits since I fired Reach up again… General Grade 1, nearly 62% Commendations. That’s a pretty good platform to build on.
But I must admit that I’m a little bit concerned that I feel so spent after only five weeks. Sure, it was five pretty hard weeks, but the difference in passion now, as compared to when I fell back into my Reach-fest, is pretty marked. And the permanent distraction of all of Reach‘s statistics (and I do love a good number crunch) has led to yet another month where nothing has been struck off The List; an all-too-common occurrence in the last year or so.
But what’s going to be next on (or, more importantly, off) The List? I had a bit more of a fiddle with Gridrunner Revolution this week, but I’m not sure it’s something I want to focus on, y’know? Burbling around in the background is fine for that one, I reckon. I had a bit of a fiddle with Geometry Wars Evolved^2 (in a vain attempt to see whether it could help avert the Completion-less month), and that could lead to some ongoing interest… then again, there’s always a potential return to initially underwhelming pair of Child of Eden and Shadows of the Damned.
Or maybe a freakish left-turn into bizarro-land… Towers II on the Jag.
In the words of Fox News… you decide.
(That was a hint to you, dear Reader. What do you think I should tackle next? Put forth your arguments! Something already on The List is preferred, but other titles will be considered…)
Oooh Pete, I always fire up Geometry Wars 2 (and REZ) when my mojo is a little low because it’s so fun and very abstract, you can’t play it for too long due to it’s nature so you can’t get burn’t out by it as easily and the achievements are not too hard either. I vote for that one :-)
It’s a tough one, alright. I’m the exact opposite… buying new games for the initial thrill, it seems, then playing them for a bit and casting them aside. I’ve just bought Deus Ex and Williams Pinball Classics, and Dungeon Siege III is sitting in shrinkwrap (would have been rude not to for a fiver) and so is Vanquish (would have been rude not to for a tenner). L.A. Noire, Child of Eden, Shadows of the Damned and Rise of the Argonauts all sit there partially played, despite me wanting to crack on with them… time has been against me lately.
I would say if you need to play something with focus and to try and cross it off, you might want to go back to Shadows… I’m about halfway through, I think, but a bloke at work has nearly finished it, and he says it’s not too bad apart from some irritating bosses.
Then again, he won’t be playing it through three times…
@Paul: Shadows requires four playthroughs ;)
@ma5h: 100% shoot-downs in Rez are a bit daunting, though. But they would be good practice for Child of Eden… ;)
I’d say go for a bit of Jet Set Radio or Space Channel 5! Love those two games with a passion!
Space Channel 5? Another in the long line of rhythm-action games that blight my List… and I’m rubbish at all of ’em.
Jet Set Radio, though, has had at least three attempts already. Easy to finish, rock-hard to complete…
I’d mix Geometry Wars Retro and Uncharted 2. GW is a brilliant game but more than about 45 mins devoted on it and you crest the peak of reactions and then end up frustrated. It needs a ‘little and often’ approach to reap rewards. Add a Uncharted 2 playthrough at the same time and you’ll balance out. Plus as you’ve finished Uncharted 1 recently you’ll feel the story come through better.
Plus it addreses little issues control wise and is much nicer to play. And without sounding like a graphics whore, it pulls off scenes that words can’t do justice to… it’s easily the best looking game I’ve ever seen.
I’ve already done an Easy playthrough of Uncharted 2 – and was a bit conflicted about it. I turned around and leapt straight into a Normal playthrough… but stopped when I hit the first stealth section.
Because I hate stealth stuff.
That lead me to an icky first impression of Uncharted 2 – it throws that many fixed set-pieces at you, broken up with odd bits (mini-boss fights, and the aforementioned stealth bits), that it never really allows you to settle into any solid groove. At least the first game had protracted battle sections…
(And I find it ironic that you’re schooling me at Geommie Wars when I’ve got more gamersmarties in it than you ;)
Ha, it’s not schooling rather than my own impressions that more than about 45 mins and my synapes start mis-firing and I end up getting progressively worse. Short focussed bursts seem to be the key.
And now I’ll have to see if I can beat you now. Ya bastard.
You’ve been saying that for years ;)