Leveling Down

Is it even possible to play all of these significant games/betas this month?

Last month I posted a gaming schedule for April, and I think it worked out pretty well. I was able to make my way through Final Fantasy XIII, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dante’s Inferno, and surprisingly, Army of Two: The 40th Day. A couple weeks ago, I posted a different entry discussing games that I wouldn’t mind paying a monthly fee for. But now that May is underway, I’ve realized that maybe being able to play all four games I was willing to pay monthly fees for at the same time is perhaps a bit too much – on top of Mass Effect 2, which carried over from last month. So, what the heck do I do in May?! Read on as I postulate my gaming schedule for the rest of the month.

With so many amazing games to play this month, I’ve definitely gone into gaming overload. I thought it was bad last month…this month is even worse, because now I’m getting hit with monster gaming titles that each really deserve their own several months to play. One thing that this deluge of excellent gaming titles has made me realize is that I don’t know if I should even be buying anything else this year. I think Alan Wake and Lost Planet 2 come out this month and maybe even some other major titles. But seriously – who has time? Look at what’s already on my plate (and don’t even get me started on my dust-collecting PS3 and my backlog for that system).

Starcraft 2 (beta)
July 27, 2010 was recently announced as the game’s release date, but it’s still a long while away. I haven’t played the game much as of late. Part of the reason is because of the number of other games I’m juggling with, but the other part of the reason is that I’m already starting to feel comfortable with the game. I think my main reason to play the beta was to learn the new mechanics of the game and just get comfortable with it. I remember prior to Warcraft III’s release my buddies and I played the beta practically every night back in college. Then when retail hit, it was easy to shoot to the top of the ladder since we had so much more experience than others. I did have a more competitive mindset back then. Today, with Starcraft II, I don’t imagine seeing myself really playing the game 1v1 too much when the retail releases nor do I plan to shoot up the ladder, so I’m not putting too many hours in now. I’m more interested in playing 2v2 at this point in the beta, so hopefully I get some of those in before the beta ends. I would have loved to see 3v3 or 4v4, but I guess it makes sense that Blizzard wants 1v1 & 2v2 to be tested first and foremost, since that’s probably where most of the imbalance issues can be more prominent. This game is going on the backburner for me unless I can schedule 2v2s with some of you.

Halo: Reach (beta)
I spent some brief time with this game on Monday, and some more time last night. After playing the game last night some more, I have to admit that my positive initial impressions I had on Monday were reduced a bit after last night. I like the whole class system, and the matchmaking system is excellent – queueing up to join your friends for the next match is thumbs up, and the party manager dropping out and taking everyone with him also is quite convenient. But as I played the game more last night, the gameplay is still very much Halo, and the whole 7-8 shots with your magnum or carbine rifle to kill someone is just too long for me. On top of that, grenade spamming is out of control. The damage on them is so high, and everyone starting with 2 grenades is probably not a good design decision. One grenade should be it! In any case, it seems like Halo: Reach has made some improvements over Halo 3, so Halo 3 fans will probably love this game. I’ll probably end up playing this game since everyone will be playing it when it releases, but it’s not a game I foresee myself playing solo online when no one else is on. The beta also ends in less than two weeks, and I’ll be out of the country on vacation by then so this is probably the only time I have to play the beta. I’m glad to have checked it out, but also glad to not have to worry about it anymore.

Modern Warfare 2
With all of the other games to play this month, Modern Warfare 2 has definitely moved to my backburner. For me a backburner is basically a game that I’m not going to really consider playing on my own, but will take out when other friends want to play it. I’m not even really ready to give up playing Modern Warfare 2 yet, but I just need to find time to play everything else on my plate. But, in those times when I do break out Modern Warfare 2, it feels good to be playing it again. I still love the game so if any of you still want to play it, just ask!

Super Street Fighter IV
It’s pretty neat that I can actually feel myself improving. Practicing my block strings and being more aggressive about throwing has allowed me to hold my own against characters that I am familiar with. With a combination of block strings and throws, my offensive game has actually gotten pretty decent. I seem to fight a lot of Dudleys and Juris when I play online so I’m getting good training against them and learning how they fight. With Starcraft 2 and Modern Warfare 2 on the backburner and my time with Halo: Reach coming to a close, Super Street Fighter IV is my primary online game for the moment. There’s so many improvements I need to make, but I see the steps I need to take so I’m not frustrated or anything yet. Now that my blockstrings and throwing are at a decent level, I’m going to need to work on my anti-air game, mastery of focus attacks, and better use of Ultra Combos to bring my game to the next rank…B? It’s a long road but I’m enjoying it. I just hope I don’t fall out of practice when I go on vacation.

Mass Effect 2
If you’ve noticed, all of the other games I’ve mentioned so far for May are all competitive games I’m playing. I need some sort of solo game that I can just play to not pump my adrenaline every gaming session. Mass Effect 2 is that game. And what a great choice for a “single player” sanctuary away from all of the competitiveness of the other games. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first Mass Effect, but I think Mass Effect 2 is phenomenal. It’s what I wanted the first game to be, minus the planet surveying. I actually fall asleep during those parts and whenever I see unknown planets, I dread having to go survey them. But other than that, everything else about the game has me drawn in. Of course, it’s not the easiest going since I’m playing on Insanity difficulty from the get-go, but with a level 60 imported Shepherd from the first game, I’m doing ok. I sort of wish I wasn’t a Soldier class though, as I’m having to rely on Miranda all the time to use Warp and Overload since all of the enemies have shields or armor. Insanity is making me fall back upon my old MMORPG days, as I plant my teammates somewhere, run forward, find an enemy, and pull him back to my teammates to get the kill. Even on bosses, I have to come up with “cheap ways” to take them out. Those robots with Armor and Shield on Insanity difficulty take me several minutes to destroy, since I need to blow through those two layers using Miranda’s skills. Thumbs up though on this game. Excellent stuff and well recommended.

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