Settling for playing GTA IV: The Lost and the Damned instead of Mass Effect 2 is just not good enough.
For the earlier part of this month I had been spending my time with Bayonetta, a newly released title that I truly enjoyed. But after I completed that and DJ Hero this past Tuesday, I discovered that night that it was apparently the Mass Effect 2 launch date. I had already made a conscious decision to skip buying Mass Effect 2 at launch, just because I had already gone through Bioware’s more RPG-oriented epic, Dragon Age: Origins, last month and my pre-ordered copy of BioShock 2 is releasing just around the corner. Plus, with the number of games I have sitting in my backlog, I realized that my gaming time might be better spent clearing through a backlogged title or two before BioShock 2′s release rolls around.
But why is this so difficult?
Several of the people on my friends list are all playing Mass Effect 2 now, so when I see them all online playing it, I can’t help but feel jealous. I’m really missing the party. Here I was Tuesday night, looking at three games to decide which one I would tackle next: Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City, Brutal Legend, and Ghostbusters. I had a really hard time choosing one of these three games, and the underlying reason behind not being able to choose was because none of those three titles was Mass Effect 2. I want to play Mass Effect 2! Screw these older games.
Stupid social networking. Making me feel guilt about the game I’m playing (as well as not playing). If I just became a complete Xbox 360 hermit who deleted everyone on my friends list, I could be blissfully ignorant and play what I think I ought to be playing, instead of feeling pressured to play the shiny new game everyone online is playing. It’s almost torturous to turn on my 360 and load up Grand Theft Auto IV when several of my friends are all online playing Mass Effect 2. I wince in pain when I see the Mass Effect 2 icon on cmfl3x’s profile there on the right sidebar when I don’t have it on mine. I feel like I’m doing something wrong and breaking a rule in being a hardcore gamer or something.
It doesn’t help either that Mass Effect 2 is getting amazingly high review scores. Currently sporting a 96 on Metacritic, it’s tied with BioShock and The Orange Box as the second best game in the entire 360 library after Grand Theft Auto IV. It’s rated higher than Gears of War. Gears of War 2. Halo 3. Modern Warfare 1. Modern Warfare 2. Fallout 3. Street Fighter IV. Batman Arkham Asylum. The combination of cmfl3x and others around me all playing it and this being one of the best titles ever released on the 360 has got me almost going crazy that I am not playing through it now. Bah. Such is the life of an aging hardcore gamer. I have to balance my hardcore gaming desires with practicality and reason. Yet why did I have to pick this game to be my “example” for clearing through older games before buying a new one?
If it’s this hard for me to get through one game in my backlog, I guess it’s going to be a lot more difficult getting through 10. Now I wish I didn’t have a backlog. When I think about it, I could have easily coasted through this quarter from Bayonetta to Mass Effect 2 to BioShock 2 to Final Fantasy XIII, with Modern Warfare 2 filling in any gaps between the time I beat one game and the time the next one released. And why is my backlog growing again? Simply put: sales on older titles. Maybe I really do need to just adopt the mentality of buying only new games at launch, or maybe only buying a game when I have nothing else to play (as if that’s going to happen). For now, I can just be hopeful that I will clear through that backlog, or I’ll end up selling it like I did with my last backlog.
I almost feel punished right now when I’m playing a backlogged title during a time when everyone around me is playing the shiny new game. I guess I could always go out and buy it to join the party, but I have to stay strong. After all, these backlogged titles aren’t going to play themselves. My vision is to be able to get through these backlogged titles eventually!
Now what the heck am I going to do with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 when I’m not even ready to stop playing Modern Warfare 2 yet? Should I skip the Bad Company 2 launch party as well? I guess after I get some hands on time with the multiplayer demo this weekend, I’ll have a better feel of whether I should wait or buy it at launch.
For those of you playing Mass Effect 2 now – enjoy. I will be playing it in the coming months…if it’s still even relevant then -_-.
I feel your pain. Kinda. ME1 infuriated me so much that I told myself I’d wait. EVEN IF all the reviews were that positive. It’s my way to punish them for having me put up with the Mako.
It also helps that I need to finish school.
The only person you are punishing is YOURSELF. I’m sure EA/Bioware is not hurting for sales with this game.
So then why does any single person’s opinion matter? Why does any single vote matter? Why give up meat for the sake of animal cruelty?
A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our classics and break all bonds of video game allegiance, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and endless cycling cutscenes, when the age of continuing to fill video game backlogs continues! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you STAND!
i played until 3 AM last night and it was all worth it. the gripes that i had are slowly going away as i understand the system better and getting back into the swing of the gameplay.
you sound so sad in your post – you should just get it! ditch the backlog. as an aging gamer, it’s time to prioritize which games MUST be played, and which ones will have to fall by the wayside. but you might have a broader interest in all the games released than i do…
One word. Two syllables. BORDERLANDS
touche. although, it’s a little different since i was pressuring you to buy it so we could play Borderlands co-op. i would be buying this game to play it by myself haha
let’s just say i’m really on the fence with this one. i think it’s because i’m at a crossroads right now where i think i can still finish my backlog by the end of the year so that i’m actually just playing games as they release, or i have to decide to go with LargeLobster’s recommendation that I completely forget the backlog.
as strong as ME2 is, I don’t think this is the game that will cause me to completely forget about my backlog. It did leave a mark though heh
I feel your pain as well. I remember on both the ODST and MW2 launch days, I had to sit and play some older game while everyone (literally everyone) on my friendslist was playing the game I wish I had.
I have a feeling whenever you get around to playing ME2, you will be pleasantly surprised. It’s a GREAT game, and fixes nearly everything wrong with the original Mass Effect, while still keeping a strong narrative.
And also, best of luck with that backlog!