Haven’t had much time today to sit at my computer and work on a blog post, been otherwise occupied. I did carve out a bit of time to check out the beta for Battlefield 6, the latest game in that long-running military shooter. It’s, well, it’s fun enough. The game delivers on the premise of the chaos of warfare: I ran towards the objective, a jet roared overhead, a tank blew up the building near me, and I got killed by a dude running around a corner.
Most of my hour was a lot of that (give or take the time when I got to drive the tank). A really cool game with a lot going on and so many opportunities for strategy that I am just not very good at.
I’ve never been very good at first-person shooters, not even when I had a summer to kill playing Halo. Competitive online multiplayer shooters are a crapshoot for me and, if I’m actually trying to win, usually an exercise in frustration. So it’s easier to play for fun rather than being in a match where twitch reflexes are a requirement alongside an intimate knowledge of the game’s systems and meta. I’m a filthy casual, is what I’m saying.
And I’ll stay a filthy casual because I don’t have enough time in my adult life with my adult responsibilities to get good. I could grind out the best possible armor in Destiny, but I’d rather play new games or build with LEGO or read with my free time rather than run the same strike over and over and over again hoping for that one piece of loot. Apex Legends was so much fun when my brother and I played it, but that was when the game was new and no one really knew what they were doing. As the folks who were good got really good, being bait for the masses was a bit of a drag.
A chatbox opened up during my time with Battlefield 6: one of the PC players on cross play chatting where us peons on console couldn’t respond. They were talking about how to reduce pin and lag, about how their machine with x amount of mhz meant they could, I dunno, react faster. Needless to say, the meaning of those specs went well over my head while I was trying to live long enough to actually get a kill in. The competitive scene just isn’t for me. I’d rather get good at piloting giant robots against computer bosses than trying to best a thirteen year old who breathes first-person shooters. And, at the end of it all, I’m okay with that — there are still plenty of games for me. Just not that one.
Essays, Not Rants! 