Gaming means a lot of things to different people. For some it is an outlet for stress, for others it is a good way to burn ten minutes before going to the pub. For many, it is a time consuming pass time which allows escapism into whole new worlds, and for others, it is practically a sport. As I sit and question my motives for this blog, I start to realise that all these reasons are nowe for me. Being quite a diverse gamer, with no real allegiance to any particular brand, publisher, developer and hardware, I am allowed access to a wide array of games which can all serve different purposes for the individual.

A while back, I started a series of blogs (which I never finished) which I hoped would offer an insight into one gamer’s view of games as an artistic medium. Back then, I was the escapist; a gamer who wanted to escape his existence and enjoy one where I determined the outcome, where my victories changed the world. Back then, my personal life was a complex one, one which I’m not particularly proud of; I was deceiving many of those around me who I hold very dear, an extended series of lies and deceit which preserved temporarily my comfortable existence. However, that time is at an end, and I feel I have paid for my mistakes, and mended bridges that, thanks to a dearly loving family and a solid group of friends, were never truly broken in the first place. I feel better about the person I am today, and therefore am in no rush to escape from the existence I dwell in. Games now mean something else to me, but I will always be thankful for the part they played in allowing me to escape my life, even if perhaps, with hindsight, confrontation of my demons would have been better in the long run. In particular, Left 4 Dead 2 allowed an escape from this life I now regret, with its victories, its defeats, and the friends who I will always treasure and remember elevating my sense of worth, even if it were in an artificial manner of speaking.

Now, with my life back on track, and two decent paying jobs under my belt, I treat games as a relaxation tool, a way to unwind at the end of the day. Sure, I still love a little bit of escapism, but its necessity has waned. I’m happy with who I am, and I don’t need to become the Dovhakien (spelling?) to feel good about myself for a few hours. It is for these reasons that I write. Sure, this series of blogs has hardly set the world on fire, but I’m starting to feel that their benefit for me is the main concern. Gaming now has a new meaning which I quite enjoy; analysis, and with this new meaning, once the credits roll on the latest interactive adventure which has reached its conclusion, I can sit back and take a new spin on the time I have just spent, thinking how has this game affected me, and would I do it all over again. For the most part, this answer has been yes. In fact, the only game I wish I could get my time back off would be Fallout: New Vegas, but I can go back and read these reviews and remember each game and why I enjoyed them, which in itself is rather enjoyable for me.

My gaming this fortnight has been a little erratic. I have completed just one game, and progressed in a few others. Rage is an ongoing battle, with my opinion on this title gently rising despite the aggro caused by its less than desirable ease to run on PC. Skyrim has taken a proper back seat, regrettably, as I don’t wish to gain a massive attachment to a game I know I can’t enjoy for long periods of time due to being busy. This has led to an increase in playing the kind of games you can dip in and out of, which brings me on to Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
If you’ve been following this series of blogs from the start, you’ll know I only got into PC gaming around 2008, and even then, most of the games I played were available on console, and were mostly built with consoles in mind. However, Serious Sam is a series which has always been PC first (or exclusive) and pretty much embodied PC gaming at the turn of the century. Now, with updated graphics, the series returns to show all the cover-takers and down-the-sighters what FPS’s were all about once people stopped using sprites and modified Doom engines.
There isn’t much to say, which is perhaps a good thing. Serious Sam set out to be a nuts-out mental shooter, with hundreds of on screen enemies looking to tear your organs out through your white t-shirt and blue jeans, and eat your red converse trainers as desert, feet still attached. It’s amazing fun barrelling through these enemies with rockets, bullets, shells and mother-loving cannonballs. This is a perfect game to spend a few quiet unoccupied nights on, dipping in and out of the mayhem and slaughtering a couple of armies worth of skeleton horses and Bomb-Hand-Screamy-Men. This sheer fun is what has led me to immediately pounce onto Second Encounter, which I will give opinions on next time, but for now, I recommend just getting this in the nest Steam sale, sticking some music of your choice on and going at it. My music choice was The Vulture by Pendulum, and a good part of the rest of that album (Immersion). I also recommend Nero’s latest album; whilst most gamers tend to veer towards tastes of a more heavy metal persuasion, dubstep can make a good soundtrack to slaughter. SS:TFE gets an 8 from me.

Aside from this, things have stayed pretty crosshair orientated. I have gone on to play Modern Warfare 3 online, and my perfect score from last time still stands. The developers have really hit their stride with online FPS, and to help matters along, contrary to my last attempt at competitive multiplayer, it turns out I’m actually pretty good at it.
I have also started playing a lot of Team Fortress 2 which I bought ages back, but due to my lack of skill, I never really got into. Now, thanks to two years with Left 4 Dead, it seems my knack for this has also increased. I favour the Scout and the Pyro, the Scout for missions with large expanses, in which a pistol, some good aiming and some better dodging make you a viable foe for any sniper, and the Pyro for the parts where a couple of Heavy’s and a Demoman might be plaguing a corridor or a tunnel. My new appreciation for this now free-to-play title leads me to award it a 9, but don’t expect to many reviews for multiplayer only games, as next time, Rage and Serious Sam Part 2 fall victim to my sturdy gaze.