2014: A Year in the Life of a PC Gamer

2014: A Year in the Life of a PC Gamer

 

      2014 was a record breaking year for me in that I finished 20 games. The closest I had ever come to that number was 18 games, set in 2013. I doubt that I will ever finish 20 games in a year again. I just started a new job, and it’s much more time consuming than my old job which afforded me wonderful three day weekends.  It was fun while it lasted, but I always knew I’d have to find a real job someday. Ha! I played numerous small indie games that took up all of a three or four hour afternoon, but I also managed to knock out some heavy hitters. The year proved once again, I’m much more of a solo gamer than a social gamer. I’m in the =sBs= clan, but almost in name only. I’ve tried to quit, the chief admin and founder won’t let me. Heh. I still play Battlefield 3; they have moved on to Battlefield 4.  

          Far Cry 3 was the big enchilada for me this year. The game not only swallowed me up into its environment, it also affected me in my daily waking life. I burned the soundtrack onto a CD and listened to it constantly during the summer months. And I’ve never been taken back to my youthful navy days in quite the same way as by anything else as this game did. The game clutched me so deeply that when I finally finished it, I found an odd catch in my throat, a sad reminder that all good things must come to an end.  I have no desire to start up FarCry 4, not for a very long time. I need to catch my breath.

Another epic AAA game I finished this year was Mass Effect 2. I remember the first Mass Effect dragging on and being somewhat “chorey.” ME2 was so much more streamlined, and it reminded me of how the Normandy has become my favorite home away from home when it comes to virtual environments. Let J.J. Abrams commandeer Star Wars AND Star Trek. As long as Bioware helms Mass Effect, the universe shall stay in order. Mass Effect 2 has the best cinematic ending of any game I’ve ever played.

 

While we’re on the subject of space, I did get a chance to revisit (and replay) Origin’s venerable and lauded Wing Commander. This was one of the first PC games I ever played. I actually upgraded my 286-12 mHz PC to a 386-25 mHz just so I could watch the animations run faster back in 1991. Living in Austin, Texas at the time, the home of Origin, I actually applied to work there after playing this game. See how I’ve always been affected! It was wonderfully refreshing to pick up WC on www.gog.com and play it through again in its entirety. It’s aged considerably, though not horribly. In its day, Wing Commander on the PC was miles ahead of anything out on console at the time. There simply was no comparison.

I played through Path of Exile, an action RPG in the same vein as Blizzard’s Diablo 3. PC Gamer Magazine swore up and down PoE was “more Diablo 3 than Diablo 3 was.” Perhaps it was; I’ve not played Diablo 3, I just know I got bored very quickly. And then I picked up The Incredible  Adventures of Van Helsing and had the time of my life. This game made me realize I could have a hella good time with an action RPG.  

     

As far as strategy games I took a chance and invested in Ultimate General: Gettysburg, an early access game from Game-Labs. I realize early access can be hit or miss, but I got lucky. I bought the game for a reduced “ea” price, and then a week later it came out complete at a higher price. The game is a great war strategy game that isn’t complex enough to be considered “grognard,” but still fun enough to be challenging for the likes of me. It didn’t take me long to beat it from both sides, Union and Confederates. I wrote a review on Steam that snowballed in popularity to the point of being the number one review for the game for several weeks. http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197995381979/recommended/306660 If you click the link please give me a thumbs up, I’d certainly appreciate it.

 

As far as driving simulations (which you all know I’m quite fond of) I eschewed Codemaster’s F1 2012 (because it was a broken game) for F1 2013. The game is a noticeable improvment over its predecessor no doubt, and with my Logitech G27 wheel/paddle set it’s the closest I will ever get to actually racing a 750 hp Formula One beast. F1 2014 is out and for sale, but after reading the reviews, I think I got lucky in getting F1 2013. I’ll stick with that one until (and if) Codemasters really improves the series.

 

I beat Borderlands 2 this year as well. I played the original back in 2010, and I liked it, although it got a bit tedious because of its repetition. Gearbox as a developer has been hit or miss over the years. I’ve always enjoyed their Brothers in Arms series, however, they took a royal beating over Aliens: Colonel Marines and even garnered a class action lawsuit over it. But I have to admit they did just fine with BL2. I enjoyed every moment I was in the game. I once spun off a heated letter to Computer Gaming World over something Randy Pitchford, the CEO of Gearbox said. It became their “Letter of the Month.” So, I can safely say Gearbox has always made me feel something.

 

RPGs always swallow me up, sheesh, FarCry 3 took me 107 hours to beat. I want to play The Witcher 2 and Dragon Age 2, but pending the release of Dragon Age 3, I got to watching videos and trailers of the original Dragon Age, and alas, here I am playing through the original all over again! We’ll see how it goes, but so far, so good. I don’t feel like I’m involved in a chore simulator—not yet, anyway.

 

Looking ahead I think 2015 will be a good year for us PC gamers. Alien Isolation is out this year, and Rockstar will finally release GTAV as well. The Occulus Rift will find more new homes for PC this year (it’s just terrible Facebook purchased it . . .I guess the idea of Farmville in true 3D appeals to them. Yuck!) We will see Fallout 4 this year, and probably a World of Warcraft movie. (I doubt I will see it. I refuse to waste two hours of my life in such a manner.) Just Cause 3, Outlast 2 and of course, Evolve will “evolve” this year on PC. I’m going to predict Tom Clancy’s (God rest his soul) The Division will appear and blow away the console versions (expect a November ’15 release.) This year, as every year is, will be a good year for us PC gamers.