The Crysis Is Over!

After finishing the previous Dawn of War games in preparation for Dawn of War III, I decided to try and use the time to knock out a few more games in The Backlog. Problem was, nothing on the list was really grabbing me all that much. But I powered through that and decided to play a couple of games I've had for ages, Crysis 2 & 3.

About 15 years ago when I was working at Gamestop it seemed like and fps was release everyother day. Not so much these days. That's why when a game like Doom 2016 comes out and turns out to be pretty good, it's a big deal.

I remember when Crysis 2 released and the PC master race threw up there arms, grabbed their torches and pitchforks and began to crucify the game for it's console-itis gameplay and feel. There's no denying that it's much different than its predecessor, a game that I loved a ton, but Crysis 2 isn't all that bad.

Over the course of a long weekend I played and finished both games, and even played through Crysis 3 a second time. I think they are both very good games that start off amazing, but lose steam once you begin to fight the Ceph. Crysis 2 the story was a mess, I had a really hard time following the narrative nor caring why I was doing what I was doing. Crysis 3 at least had better characters and a protagonist that could finally talk.

Of the two I think Crysis 3 is a better game, but not by a huge margin. The story and characters really is what sets it apart for me. There some gameplay changes to that help - refinement of the suite powers, being able to use alien weapons, and that overpowered bow!

Overall I am quite satisfied with both games. While I think the graphics in Crysis are pretty overrated, the gameplay in that and Warhead is so good that I felt compelled to finish both games twice! I'm happy that I finally played through both Crysis 2 & 3, and maybe someday I'll even play them again, but for now notch two more games off the list!

The Money's Worth Conundrum

One aspect in regards to the backlog that I haven't talked about is the need for me to feel that I've gotten my money's worth out of a game. Many years ago I pre-ordered the collector's edition of Dead Space 2. While it's a great game, I was extremely frustrated and upset with how short the game was. So upset that I played through the game twice more in a row just to get my money's worth.

These days with digital sales being the norm I rarely pay full price for a new PC game so the need to invest as many hours as a game cost isn't as big of a factor for me as it was many years ago. Right now I find myself in a situation where I am playing Space Hulk: Ascension and replaying Just Cause 2, and I'm not sure I really want to but I want to feel like I got my money's worth.

JC2 I played years ago and I did play the faction missions and finished the story, but because of the size of the game I always felt that I was missing stuff in the game. Ascension is just a long ass game. I own four of the eight Space Marine chapters and there are six campaigns with at least fifteen missions if not more.

I have plenty of time before Dawn of War 3 is released to trim a bit off the backlog but neither of these games are really doing anything for me. I guess what's eating me is that I recognize these are two games that I probably won't play again, but I want to feel like I got my money's worth and satiate that feeling of completion so that I can remove them from the backlog list.

When I am suffering from that dreaded game paralysis, the backlog has been a useful tool to get me out of the funk. But I have come to the conclusion that I might not get my money's worth out of every game. Gaming is suppose to be fun, not a chore. When it comes to the list, it's something I have to often remind myself of.