#angry vampire thoughts | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rjmhereunderprotest · 7 months ago

Text

I Miss My PC Games

Years ago, I had a desktop like pretty much everyone else. Had all my stuff on it. All my games. All my work. Everything important to me at that time. Then, out of the blue, the whole rig just died on me. The disk drive gave out. I lost everything prior to my back ups. It was devastating. Since then I've been using a succession of laptops, one after the other, as my desk where the desktop used to be has become cluttered with stuff. I've kept saying I'll get a new one, I never have. And something always seems to go wrong with my laptops sooner or later to boot. This one I'm currently writing on is honestly reaching the end of its lifecycle. I'm considering getting a new one.

But I suspect, the next laptop won't be anywhere near powerful enough to work with any of my games. The ones I've had sitting in storage, waiting for installation. I've repurchased them digitally from Steam of course, but the laptop can't play them. Hell, about all I can play on this thing is Doom, which isn't very impressive. Doom plays on everything. Meanwhile all the other games I want to play with, the old favorites, the franchises I love? Sitting in a corner or stuck in the cloud.

Every year I get especially nostalgic around this time. I remember things I missed and haven't seen in a while. So, because I'm feeling extra sad because of... everything, I wanted to try and cheer myself up some, remembering fond memories of the games I used to play. And hope, one day, to play again.

First a brief disclaimer, I'm excluding a few games based on the fact I can still play them with minimum difficulty. It's also based on how comfortable I am playing them on the consoles they're available on. As well as the quality of the remaster or console release. There's some exceptions to this, but not many. So let's start.

RTS games were always a big thing for me. Playing the general in a massive war never failed to excite my young mind. Empire Earth appealed to my inherent history nerd, more so than most as it didn't tie itself down to to a singular era or form of combat. From the Stone Age to the far future, you could command all sorts of armies to absolute victory.

With four campaigns in total, Greek, English, German and Russia, each with their own distinct settings, it was an amazing slice of history to play around in. I remember spending hours upon hours battling from Medieval England to the Napoleonic Wars under the English banner. Where else could I go from knights to muskets in the span of a few minutes?

A lot of my time though was spent on the German and Russian campaigns, although I didn't particularly like the final missions of the German campaign because it involved an alt-history scenario where the Nazis. As I'll explain, I don't like helping the Nazis. I prefer to kill them. The WW1 levels though were pretty good. Fighting through Verdun, brutal, but very rewarding.

The Russian campaign, that was something else entirely. A completely original story set in the future where brutal Russian dictator seizes power and attempts to conquer the whole world. Only he can't live forever to see it through, so he downloads his mind into a robot successor, who becomes even more brutal in its insane quest for power. The only hope in the end is for a heroic pair of warriors to travel back in time and stop the dictator before he ever comes to power. It was a really fun campaign... although I imagine a reemergent Russian Empire is not exactly as fun to talk about these days.

There was an expansion that added new campaigns, including an American one spanning most of the Pacific War. As well as another future campaign with a new epoch to expand into, the space age. Now that was a hard campaign, I much preferred the Pacific War, as a I'm always invested in the World Wars historically. I'm sure someone big into Roman history would've enjoyed the Roman campaign way more than I did, although I like it fine.

What was great about Empire Earth was how much it revered history as much as I did and used history to tell its own stories. It's unfortunate we don't get more RTS games that are willing to span the length of history. Nor as many that will take on less well known or used eras in history. There really should be more WW1 Real time Strategy games honestly, far too few in my mind. Sadly, the game is still only on PC. I mean, the RTS genre works best on it. But really, with advances in tech that's making consoles basically just PCs in their own right, it should be a lot easier to adapt them to consoles more often. If only to make it easier for everyone play them.

This one might be more familiar to you as a result of some recent developments. Age of Mythology was always right up my alley. As a student of history, I was also always drawn to the myths born of history. An RTS that explores Greek, Egyptian and Norse myths? Sign me up! You don't know the true joy that can come from raising an army of Hydras that only get stronger the more heads they grow. Or watching an alligator with a sun beam laser burn through enemy fortresses. Or summoning Nidhogg the dragon to basically annihilate your enemies from on high. Simply the best.

I played through the whole campaign at least twice, because I was that obsessed with it at the time. It was the only way I could use more of the crazy awesome units available to you in this game. Scorpions, Valkyries, Krakens, Anubis Soldiers, there's a friggin turtle that you can use to transport troops! And let's not forget the god powers, summoning meteors from the sky is never not fun!

It was also just really nice to see Egyptian mythology represented for once. I do love me Ancient Egypt and it's pantheon of Gods. Sadly, they're not as used as the Norse or Greeks for things. Which is really a shame, they got some killer stuff that is worth adapting. In AoM, we actually help assemble Osiris so he can come back to life and help stop the apocalypse! I feel there's a bit of a concern among people though, that they'll get it wrong and offend someone. Which I can sorta understand. But not using Egyptian Myth to create media is almost as bad as getting it wrong.

I suppose I should just be happy they aren't going to have Kratos kill all my favorite Egyptian Gods. At least I can be grateful for that much.

You might be asking, why not just play the Retold remaster? I would, but it's just not the same. Something feels lost in the dialogue and delivery of the updated campaign. I don't know if its me or I'm just misremembering it, but I felt Arkantos had a much better commanding presence with his original voice actor. Now he just sounds off. Don't get me started on Gargarensis. He just sounds all kinds of wrong, his evil poetry doesn't read the same. Also, the achievements are a problem too. So ridiculously overly difficult. I'd be forced to play the game forever just to get most of them. Not really worth it in my mind sadly.

Overall, I'd rather play the original on PC, not as many issues there. But at least I still have the original disc if I ever want to go back.

Let's switch this up, Crimson Skies is an arcade-style flight combat game. One that, in my mind, is one of the few alt-history settings I'm still actually interested in post-TNO and what it did. More on that, but not too much, later. Right now, it's the Fortune Hunters' time!

You play Nathan Zachary, ace fighter pilot and ex-playboy who leads a band of merry sky pirates, the Fortune Hunters, in an alternate 1930s America that has split apart following the stock market crash of 1929. In this Balkanized United States, conflict is ever present and railroads and highways are no longer safe for travel and trade. Which means zeppelins have become the new means of import and export and that's opened the path back up for the cutthroats of the world to start a new golden age of piracy!

I love planes, and Crimson Skies offers so many to choose from. All of them wildly imaginative in design, from reverse construction with the propeller in the back, to planes with rear turrets in their tails, bi-wing design or whatever crazy stuff you can think of.

If nothing else, Crimson Skies drew me in with its cast of colorful characters, pulpy action-packed storyline, and damn good dogfighting action. Seriously, so of the most fun I've had flying the unfriendly digital skies was in this game alone. I've pretty much measured every flight sim and air combat game by its metric. If it's not nearly as fun as Crimson Skies, it isn't worth my time.

The game did get a sequel, on consoles no less, which is backwards compatible, even better. High Road to Revenge is indeed a great game... however, it's downsized. The cast of Fortune Hunters is cut down to three, which includes Nathan, so it's more like two. It's not nearly as long, there aren't many returning characters or factions, and frankly it's just more simplified in its roster of planes and upgrades. It's a good game, but its not the original, which is nowhere to be found on any console, remastered or otherwise. It's not even on steam. If you can get a physical copy, good for you. Probably might cost you a bit though. But the truth is, if I ever want to play Crimson Skies' original entry ever again, I'll need to get a new PC.

I don't even understand why there hasn't been a new entry in the franchise. Microsoft just lets it lay there on the shelf, practically abandoned. I wanted to see what this world's WW2 would've ended up looking like. Can you imagine how a United States with such divided ideologies would end up like? Trust me, something like THAT would be worth exploring.

From a past that never was, to a far future in space where none can hear you scream and if it bleeds we can kill it. Aliens vs Predator 2 is the pinnacle of either franchise in shooter form. There have been many games since featuring both the xenomorphs and predators, but none have ever reached these heights since.

Playing as a Marine is perfectly fine for those just looking for a solid FPS experience, but it's really only the tip of the iceberg. Being able to play as the Alien, facehugger to warrior brings an entirely new dynamic to the game as you become primarily focused on stealth more than anything. Similar to the Predator, but you have more weaponry and other abilities that switch things up considerably.

Each campaign had its own feel to it, following branching paths of the same storyline. Everything you could ever want out of these franchises is here. From the Marines' assault rifles, to the Xenomorph being able to skewer enemies with its tail, to the Predator's plasma cannon and thermal vision. And each of them feel powerful in their own right.

While I can always pick of the eventual sequel to this that came out on consoles, it's still not the same. Something about this entry just feels the best of all of them as it wasn't too reliant on nostalgia and fanservice as others. It was just focused on telling a story in this world, helped along by the Aliens vs Predator comics that were so prevalent around this time. Don't take this as me complaining about how Disney owns both IPs now, its not. I just recognize that, at the time, games based on big IPs weren't as concerned about recreating moments you're familiar with. They were concerned with getting the feeling down.

I really don't want this to sound like I'm complaining, so I'm making that clear. AvP2 just wasn't worried about reminding you why you liked these two franchises because their place in pop culture was more recent and known to the target demographic. Regardless, maybe we're starting to see a resurgence. The success of "Prey" and "Alien: Romulus" proves there is still life in these franchises, and maybe they'll actually meet up again in the future. Although if they do, one would hope they follow this game's lead. Send in the Marines! Come on, it's been decades since an Alien movie has featured the Marines! Disney, you have James Cameron on payroll now! Ask him to make the next AvP movie with the Colonial Marines once he's done with Avatar! Come on, give people an excuse to release a new AvP game or at least remaster the old ones.

Freedom Force is a comic book lover's dream, a top down RPG in the vein of Diablo but starring Superheroes, in a Silver Age 1960s ripped straight out of the panels. If you love classic comics of the era, whether DC or Marvel, Freedom Force checks every friggin box.

There are so many awesome characters in this, it's hard to pick a favorite. Minuteman, the leader of the team. A clear stand-in for Captain America, save for the fact he's not actually a frozen WW2 Soldier, but an aging scientist who worked on the Manhattan project, revitalized into a younger version of himself with twice the strength and patriotic bravado because an alien chemical landed on him. Yeah, it's basically that sort of game throughout. The Any is basically Spider-Man, but he got Ant powers, again, because of alien chemicals. Man-Bot, former playboy, got in an accident, hit by the chemicals, forced to live in a metal suit forever. You get the picture.

You work your way through chapter after chapter fighting a variety of bad guys and enemies in various scenarios that you could've found in any of the comics of the 1960s. There's even some cutscenes done in the style of those old comic books. Your powers even make the same sort of sound effect onomatopoeia that is so connected to the medium. It is very clear the creators loved old comic books. Oh by the way, Ken Levine of BioShock fame worked on this, just to let you know.

There was an expansion, this one featuring time travel, where the heroes go back in time to stop Nazis from re-writing history. It introduced some new heroes, including my two favorites, Green Genie and Tombstone. The former, a fun loving Muslim-girl whose powers have granted her reality warping powers and green skin. The latter, a wrongfully accused man who was executed in the electric chair just as the alien energies struck the power lines. Turning him into a badass skeletal specter who punishes the guilty. He might be a little out of place in the Silver Age, but damn it if he isn't cool.

I don't play a lot of games like Freedom Force, the Diablo-Style mechanics can be overwhelming. But it had a number of features that made it easier to handle, such as pausing the action to plan out attacks. This made the gameplay a lot more accessible but no less fun, as picking the right team of heroes and upgrading them effectively to face any foe was pretty much half the fun. It's been forever since I've played the game, but I still remember the joy I got watching Minuteman clock a goon in the face straight up before shouting "FOR FREEDOM" at the top of his lungs.

If only they had made a sequel, they would've expanded out to future comic book eras and added even more heroes and villains based on those periods. Sadly, while it is on steam, it's not on consoles and probably never will be because it's not exactly the most well-known superhero game out there. I don't believe in this "superheroes are played out" nonsense people claim is going around. That's simplifying cultural shifts in my mind. There's always going to be a place for superheroes, in films and games.

I just wanna watch Green Genie change some dude into a flower vase while Tombstone shoots a goon with his dual blaster guns. Is it weird I ship them? It's probably weird I ship them together.

Alright, time for another alt-history and RTS game, this one a bit more interesting in my mind, as its about the Soviet Union, recognizing its about to die and can't sustain itself, makes the Cold War go hot, invading West Berlin before the rest of Germany and Europe. Finally taking the war to the shores of America on the very day in our timeline when the Berlin Wall was supposed to come down.

My version of the game is played exclusively from the American perspective, leading company of US Army Soldiers as they tried to turn back the red tide as it sweeps through Washington State. The ultimate goal being to take back Seattle before America and Russia inevitably turn this conflict into a nuclear one.

There was an expansion I never played because I rarely care about playing the obvious bad guys. Soviet Assault gave the game more missions from the Russian point of view and greater towards the larger conflict. You don't actually change the outcome of the campaign, this doesn't add a new ending, as the Soviet missions play out parallel to the American ones. But they got a long way to showing a different side to the events unfolding in the story.

For me, World in Conflict was a seminal game and a core memory, important to crafting my ideas concerning how to tell a war story. It had some of the most exciting missions and gameplay in an RTS, focusing purely on commanding units rather than base building. It kept the action fluid and constant. And it made you very careful about which units you ordered into the fight and how you used them.

The real fun part was when the game let you go all out with artillery and air strikes. That was the big draw honestly. If you accumulated enough combat points and did well enough in objectives, you'd gain access to powerful strike capabilities that could turn the tide of battle. Napalming Soviets on the highway or targeting occupied buildings with surgical airstrikes is supremely satisfying. And with how often enemies will get in close, you will be shouting "Broken Arrow" more often than not.

I'm pretty sure every current edition of the game is packaged with Soviet Assault, completing the overall experience. All I know is, without a proper PC rig, I cannot run the game anymore. So I'm locked out of one of my favorite RTS games with one of the best campaigns I've played in a long time.

They say every time you mention this game, someone, somewhere reinstalls it. I can believe that, it's just it's never been an option for me for a good while. Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines is just one of those RPGs that manages to succeed despite itself. Not because of anything it fails at, but because its development was screwed and it was released in such a sorry state. Fixing it proved to be more than a little difficult, but fans pulled through and have been consistently adding onto the game for years since, long after the license has expired.

For me, this was the one time in my life I actually wanted to play as a vampire. When it comes to supernatural creatures, vampires are always last on my fantasy list. Bloodlines somehow managed to make it something worth playing, by abandoning some clichés, enhancing stronger tropes, playing around with the mythology and actually making the Vampires interesting as a species and culture. I tend to better respect something that can defy my usually and admittedly steadfast and stubborn edicts. If you can somehow get me to like something I'd otherwise hate, you have my respect forever. That's Bloodlines, it made being a vampire fascinating.

Not because Vampires were all powerful or anything, but because they were all so deeply fucked up. The game blatantly admits that vampire society is basically full of scheming, conniving backstabbers. That they're all absolutely terrified of their own disease that gives them so much power and are constantly fearful of being extinguished. Their entire society revolves less around controlling the world, and more around just surviving by any means necessary. It's a sad existence, but they don't really have a choice. It's this or damnation. And even then, they're all still worried about a possible coming apocalypse that will spell unspeakable doom. And you, as a fledgling vampire, get caught up in the middle of all this, as a pawn of various factions and individuals, all out for each other's blood. At the end of the day, your job is the same as everyone's, survive.

It's a unique take on vampires, basically admitting that you're a blood-sucking parasite and you're probably on borrowed time. Best you can hope for is to try and make it to the next sunset alive. And seeing how all these different vampires deal with the reality of their existence, none of them really good, but not exactly evil, humanized them somewhat in my mind.

And yes, fine, Jeanette Voerman is super hot and I love her and all that. I really love her and her sister's storyline. Her school girl outfit and pony tails did things to me, whatever. I'm not going to lie about what I am, but I would prefer not to be mistaken for a stupid gooner gamer. I played this game several times over for a lot more reasons than just Jeanette you know.

I also really liked playing the Malkavian for the funny dialogue.

Obviously, since it has no console release, I can't play it anymore. And it looks like the long gestating sequel is going to be an entirely different animal that is slowly losing my interest as more about it is revealed. I don't even know if Damsel is still showing up or if I can customize my character at all anymore. And that's if it even comes out. Next chance I get to play this game, I'm going to do my first playthrough with something other than a Malkavian for once. My original playthrough was with Brujah, which was fine, and I prefer being a Malkavian overall. But I think I need to try something new for next go around.

And maybe fix the dialogue fonts too, they never appeared how they were supposed to.

I don't know why we keep trying to colonize Mars when it's just gonna cause problems. All the video games say it will. Red Faction was one of them. Sold on the very exciting concept of being able to destroy the environment around you to create shortcuts or take out enemies, Red Faction was a kickass shooter about rebelling against corporate tyranny on Mars.

Created by the dudes who would later go on to make the Saints Row series, Red Faction might have otherwise been an average shooter was its environment destruction mechanic not its focal point. Being a miner on Mars gave you access to a lot of explosives, honestly the Ultor corporation should've seen this coming. So as a result, within the very first level of the game, you're already blowing up walls or busting through floors to push forward. Before long you'll be doing the same to take out towers, bunkers or maybe just get past a locked door.

Don't get me wrong though, it is a fun game. I've taken a lot from it honestly and the idea of fighting corporate tyranny never gets old. I just recognize that there isn't much else that separates it from other games of the era. Although it took some seriously crazy swerves. Fighting an evil psychic-enhanced mad scientist and all his creepy mutant creations was not what I was expecting to take up a good portion of the second act. Let me tell you.

It's been so long, but a lot of the game still remains fresh in my mind, even if its less gameplay and more specifics. Really though, none of the other Red Faction games did it for me in the same way. The Rebels became exceedingly unlikable come "Red Faction Guerilla" and the actual Red Faction 2 is not at all connected with this one. Strangely, I could play this game again without the PC, it's on the Playstation 2, which I have. I just haven't gone out of my way is all. I suppose its because it's never been more core console. I am an Xbox gamer. I know, a lot of you probably want to call me scum right now. I get it. But I still love the system, nothing you say is gonna change that, no matter how crappy the company can act. It's not like they're the only ones being dicks in the gaming market today.

Just to be clear, this is the whole series, which are too many to really name as of now. Getting into all of them would take too long. Let's just say, C&C had a huge impact on me and it has not left me since I first played around in their worlds.

From fighting the Brotherhood of Nod and it's seemingly ageless charismatic leader Kane, to thwarting psychic megalomaniac Yuri in Red Alert 2's expansion pack, I am intimately familiar with the series' ins and outs. As well as its highs and... lows. Real big lows.

Let's not mix words here, EA fucked this series. It fucked it so hard. They wanted to turn it into an E-Sports game to rake in Starcraft money and it failed so hard. They ruined the Tiberium universe with the fourth entry. Cancelled the Generals sequel outright. And Red Alert 3, while perfectly fine, is pretty much just so ridiculous that you can't take any of it seriously. Granted Red Alert 2 already made that half of the universe less serious to begin with, the Soviet campaign had you turn the Eiffel Tower into a Tesla coil. But there was still a semblance of taking the material seriously beneath the B-Movie charm.

I still have a love for the various entries though. Red Alert 2, Generals, Renegade, (Who would've thought you could make an FPS out of an RTS?) each hold a place in my heart one way or another. I just wish I could try to experience the games again from the start. Don't get to though, no console release, not even for the remasters. I still have my box set for the original four games, the Renegade CD, Generals and its expansion (Although I'm not as fond of said expansion because its campaign's story is ridiculous... even if currently plausible thanks to certain recent events) and of course there's Yuri's Revenge, which really cranked up the silliness before Red Alert 3 came around. All the same, good series in its heyday. Wish EA hadn't basically destroyed it like it does most games and studios it touches. Let's keep hoping BioWare doesn't join Westwood in defunct studios owned by Electronic Arts. Mass Effect 4, you are our best hope now.

"Cause No One Lives Forevvvvveeeerrrr! But evil never diiiiieeeesssss!"

Cate Archer is not only one of the most awesome/hottest fictional spies out there, she is also one of the least well known. Its unfortunate that her series faded into the background, but I suppose that's the consequence of the shooter boom post Half-Life and Halo.

However, that doesn't diminish what this game accomplished, creating a wholly original spy thriller that somehow was able to keep the camp without sacrificing the seriousness of real-world espionage. Sure, Cate uses a robot poodle to blow enemies up, but she's also a consummate professional dealing with 1960s sexism in a field dominated by men. I'm sure today grifters would be complaining this thing was "Woke" or whatever. Or maybe they wouldn't care because Cate shows off her boobs while wearing a tight spandex spy suit. Who can say?

All I know is I had a blast whether sneaking or fighting in both entries. And I enjoyed how much it paid homage to the classic spy movies of the era without ever feeling crass or cynical about them. It played itself straight at all times, even when the dangerous menace that threatens is using a weaponized chemical agent that makes you burp a lot before you explode violently, killing yourself and everyone.

Yes, that is real. The sequel makes you fight mimes while escaping on a tiny bicycle. Also ninjas.

You laugh, sure, but it's still fucking cool. Don't expect a video game now, let alone a shooter, to ever be allowed to have some fun anymore. I'm more than positive someone out there would claim this type of silly pulpy humor would be cringe or whatever. Maybe Cate's eventual reboot will be some hyper-realistic spy simulator that takes itself extra seriously and removes anything funny from its story. All in favor of increasing the edge super high because its the only way you'll take Cate seriously. Women aren't allowed to be funny anymore, look what happened to She-Hulk. She cracks a few jokes and dances a little, suddenly everyone wants her head on a pike. They even predicted it would happen! How you think Cate Archer having a little fun with her killer robot poodle or weapons disguised as accessories is gonna be treated? Not well, I can tell you that!

Maybe I'm overexaggerating some. Point is, No One Lives Forever was a franchise gone too soon. I wish someone would try to bring it back in some form. Maybe Nightdive has it on its Radar. I suppose we'll have to wait and see. Until then, I won't be playing it. Just waiting for a chance to.

Time to get into a theme here, starting with this one. Company of Heroes was a top down RTS game that followed various branches of the US Military as it worked to retake France from Nazi Occupation. From D-Day to the Falaise Pocket, it recounts the struggles and triumphs of the first step to liberating Western Europe.

This holds a special place in my mind because... I never finished it. I got to the last level, the last mission... didn't finish. And because my computer crapped out, I probably will never get to finish.

Company of Heroes has had other entries, but this is the one that I care about the most, as over time I feel it has run into the trap so many of these RTS games do now. The sequel that took place on the Eastern front with the Russians drew criticism for seemingly demonizing the Russians you were playing as for their, historically accurate, brutality against their enemies. The third game decided it was going to frame its single player campaign on the German side of things... while trying to pay tribute to the indigenous population they committed war crimes against.

Ok... what? You want me to play as the guys who did war crimes? I already don't like playing as Germans in WW2, it always leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But... I gotta tell ya, RTS games let you play as Nazis a lot more often than should be normal. Disturbing, I was instantly turned off of the third game, needless to say. If the only real narrative campaign option I have is the fucking Germans, you've instantly lost me. You could've let us be the British, but nah, just play as the fucking War Criminals I guess. Sure there's another campaign where you play as the Allies taking Italy, but that's an entirely different sort of single player experience that is much more free flow. I'm talking about the narrative campaign that I usually pick these up for.

Company of Heroes, the first one at least, knew better than to try and make us play as the fucking Nazis. Its cover system for your squads was engaging, the units themselves diverse and interesting, and the tactics involved in how to use them effectively were fun to figure out. I did bust through the various levels after all, I had a ton of fun getting through the game. I just... never got the chance to finish it is all. Sucks, I know, and I just want the chance to properly finish something I started. I don't like leaving things unfinished.

Alright, we're down to the real good stuff now. The games that cemented my status as a gamer. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was one of my first full-fledged shooter titles. Given its release timing, I likely played Halo on Xbox first, but that hardly changes things. All I know is that this game spoke to my history nerd so hard. I needed to experience it, I was not disappointed.

I think Allied Assault was special to me because it proved how cinematic games could be. Yes, the D-Day mission is straight out of Saving Private Ryan, but a lot of it was like that. The music, the action beats, the in-game animation, it all just expressed this incredible aura. Like I was starring in my own adventure. That I was a part of history.

That's what worked so well for me, that it completely pulled me into this period in time. Infiltrating submarine bases, moving up Omaha Beach, pushing my way through sniper alley, stealing that tank and using it against the Germans, all to an epic score I can still hear in my head.

The game of course had two expansions, extra missions covering other aspects of the war in Europe. Spearhead and Breakthrough were both excellent additions in their own right. The challenge was at times frustrating, but ultimately rewarding. And while Medal of Honor couldn't survive the transition to modern shooters like CoD did... I'm kinda happy it didn't. I don't think I would've liked Medal of Honor sacrificing its heroic optimistic outlook and production values to become what Call of Duty is now. A dreary, hyper monetized, cash cow that can feel exceedingly soulless in the face of how many studios are slaved to making its multiplayer maps. We can only hope Raven will one day be free of those mines.

I suppose there is merit in better showcasing the horrors of war, but CoD has just completely slipped in to a very right-leaning outlook on a lot of things, torture especially, although that is by no means unique to it alone. Medal of Honor always felt like it was more balanced. That war is hell, but there is still inherent true heroism to be found within the horror. Perhaps it hasn't all aged perfectly, and its own brand of patriotism can be tiring, even misguided. But I appreciate the series for shedding a light on the sacrifices made to defeat the greatest evil this world has ever known. I wish more people today were as willing to take a stand against similar ideologies, especially since similar ones to the Axis powers have become so prevalent today.

I just miss when games like Medal of Honor tried to share history with you, as much as anything else. And help place back in another time, to help us understand what it was like. And I really wanna hear that music again, okay? That shit was fucking kickass!

Call of Duty wasn't always the shooter juggernaut. It wasn't always the biggest franchise in existence, released annually like Madden to keep the multiplayer shooter scene satiated. It wasn't always stale and desperate and edgy and bereft of anything original. I hear Raven actually managed to make the new Black Ops at least a little less formulaic at least, good for them, hope they can get to do their own damn games again soon.

Back when CoD was just starting out, it had one mission, to illuminate the lives of those who fought in WW2. Not just Americans, but British and Soviet soldiers too. Trying to show everyone that wars are not won by singular individuals, but by scores of people risking everything for the homelands and the people beside them.

And it worked. We got to experience being an Airborne Paratrooper, an SAS Operative and a Russian Conscript. Each of the fighting on their respective fronts to bring final victory in the most devastating war known to man. It was a fun and engaging game that never got stale because you were always shifting perspectives, you were never static or in one place. There was always something different waiting around the next corner. It felt like a breath of fresh air in a sea of steadily increasing WWII titles that even by then were getting a bit much.

As CoD went on, it adopted more and more of its less savory aspects. Focusing more on multiplayer, single player getting downplayed, formulas being overdone, things just not working out the way they were supposed to. CoD got further and further away from its origins, now it practically own the FPS scene to the point it has become stifiling.

I barely play CoD games anymore. The only time I purchase them is when they go back to WW2, hoping to capture the same magic again, never really managing. I can technically still play the first CoD. It's on my Xbox 360, released under the arcade titles. However, you can't get that anymore with the 360 store closed down, so the rest of you are out of luck on that front. But I can't play the expansion, United Offensive, which I guess is why it's still here. I'm locked out of the full experience for the first Call of Duty. And that's sad, it really is. Maybe one day, that won't be the case though, we can hope.

Of all the games I've talked about, this one, right here, is the most important in my mind. Return to Castle Wolfenstein is the single most important game in my life, alongside Halo and Medal of Honor, as I played each in very quick succession of each other. But RTCW has always held a huge place in my heart because it spoke to me on so many levels that have become synonymous with how I view gaming even now.

Sure, there are stealth sections that can be a pain. Sure some enemies can be cheap as hell. Sure the challenge can be overbearing to the point of madness. But I replayed this campaign from start to finish on my PC more times than I can count. That's how damn good it was.

From the second I woke up in the castle dungeon and knocked out that guard, I was hooked. I made it my mission to try and sneak around, not get caught for as long as possible. Generally so I could over hear the Nazis in the next room going on about stuff. When it was time to go Rambo, I did so. Kicking in doors, blasting off a stolen MP-40, raining lead down from on high before finding a plate of delicious food to eat to heal me up.

This was, in my mind, the pinnacle of gaming. It was like Indiana Jones meets Captain America, it was everything I ever wanted. The supernatural elements, the crazy mad science, the kick ass weapons, that scene at the rocket plane airbase, when the elite Nazi paratroopers drop in, that was fucking cool from start to finish. Everything about this game made me smile, I loved it that much.

I was a fan of the Wolfenstein franchise from then on... until Bethesda and Machine Games broke my heart with that insult of a reboot. The New Order, in short order, killed the series for me. It's alt-history storyline was a complete clusterfuck, it's characters pissed me, its weapons weren't all that fun to use, and they literally stuck a middle finger up at the previous games in the series. First by dismissing any supernatural elements from the story outright, then by releasing that godawful Old Blood stand alone that was nothing more than them redoing RTCW's story, but worse.

I hate what they did to the series. I hated what it did to me more. I became so bitter and angry. By this time, my desktop computer had already given up the ghost, so I couldn't go back and play it again to wash the stink out. I had to get the game's original Xbox release just to be able to play it again! I needed to play it again just to remind me what had been lost.

So yeah, this is the one game on this list I really can still play in full, but I miss playing it still. As much as I love that the Xbox version is there and even has some improvements on the PC version, it's still not the same, it doesn't feel the same. And that's why it's just a substitute. Yeah, I can play it, and enjoy it on console. But I do still feel I'm missing some only the PC version had, sadly.

Well there it is, a small stroll down memory lane. Hopefully this brought some memories back for yourselves as well. I know this probably isn't my most insightful post. But maybe it gave you all a better idea about me.

We'll see what the future brings. Maybe I'll get a computer that can run these games again. We can only hope. Until then, I'll keep waiting to return to my old stomping grounds.

#video games #return to castle wolfenstein #medal of honor #call of duty #no one lives forever #red faction #world in conflict #command and conquer #crimson skies #age of mythology #empire earth #company of heroes #aliens vs predator 2 #vampires the masquerade bloodlines #Jeanette voerman #Freedom Force #nostalgia #I expect to get in trouble for my thoughts on the new Wolfenstein games. Never fails to attract angry people to me.

1 note · View note