Monday, March 9, 2009

A weekend of gaming...


This weekend brought a thaw in the major amounts of snow which as yet surround us. Much of it has melted, uncovering mounds of bird seed, rabbit pellets and an unfortunate mourning dove which was dispatched in our back yard by one of the roaming neighborhood cats. The cat's owners should be aware that our yard is a bird and rabbit-friendly space. Ergo, if I catch their cat in our yard, it's history. Yes, I know... "It's natural predation...". True enough, but they are forgetting that I also am a predator. And one who is extremely territorial about his yard... I have as much natural right to hunt, as that cat does. Moreso, some might say...

But I digress... The weekend was wonderful, if somewhat devoid of my lady's company for most of the days. Still, I had a thoroughly enjoyable time online, both with and without my son-in-law's company. I'm really developing a liking for CoD4, which is no surprise as I loved the initial game itself. The graphics are gorgeous, the maps interesting and varied. Gameplay is frenetic in some games, such as 'Shipment', which takes place in a container yard of probably no more than 2,500 square feet. You're having at one another, with teams of 8 to 10 players, grenades raining all over the friggin' place, and every now and then you either have to contend with an enemy gunship of a fighter-bomber raid. Mercifully though, no dogs... It's retardedly fast-paced and totally chaotic. The carnage rating is off the scale...

As with many other games, there is also the opportunity to buy additional maps online, which further extend the playability of the game. For the uninitiated, maps are scenarios in which a game is conducted. It's like a different 'episode' in which to continue the game, with different players, different surroundings, different goals, different challenges... It perpetuates the 'newness' of the game expotentially. The current deal is 4 new downloadable maps for CoD4, for the paltry sum of $7.00(US). I can download them right from my console and pay for 'em online. How cool and user-friendly is that?

To add to this, there are also a large variety of 'Perks' that one can earn through scoring, completing challenges and ranking up. These enable you to add to your arsenal by unlocking access to new weapons and/or your character's abilities. Greater endurance, greater speed, healing powers, never-miss aim... The list is no doubt endless. Small wonder some of these more experienced players (Prestige class) seem almost invincible. They have obviously accrued so many of these Perks that they now laugh at mere bullets and our seemingly puny efforts at killing them... Still, as with so many other things, this will change...

So yes, all in all it was a very enjoyable weekend.


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