Casual Hardcore

Ah, the two words that perplex all attempts to define it. In this case, I'm referring to my current game purchasing dilemma.

As usual, I am a Steam sellout, so when I see the Season 2 of Sam & Max is on 50% offer, I am highly inclined towards getting it. And maybe that will make me move forward on the remaining Sam & Max games of Season 1, since I was purposefully not-playing them in an attempt to "make them last." Weird, yeah, but true.

Now the weekend deal puts up Call of Duty: World at War at a cheaper, but not must-buy-or-forever-regret-not-getting-the-deal sort of price. I enjoyed Call of Duty 4, but this sequel is slightly more maligned. I also am not 100% sure that I am up for playing an FPS, I haven't played one in forever. Yet I do feel a temptation to visit the World War II setting and experience some immersive scripting and action sequences. The problem is, I'm not sure how long I will savor these action sequences before the gameplay boils down to a "run and gun" "duck and cover" FPS-type playstyle and starts to bore me.

Getting Spore is on the radar. I'm not 100% enthused about the million and one add-on packs that are based on a microtransaction model that nickel and dime you to the point of footing out a lot more moolah... Neither am I enthused about the lack of any crunchy gameplay as it has been seriously dumbed down to a casual pick-up-intuitive-for-primary-school-kids sort of model. I am, however, quite tempted by the creation options and potential for machinima - though the social network options are really not for me in particular.

On reading about Spore, curiosity is again sparked by Sims 2. (And Sims 3 is apparently being released this June too.) I tried a Sims game once. I can't remember if it was the first or the second. It seemed quite simplistic, and the 'mainstreamness' of it was off-putting. Just couldn't quite put a huge value factor on watching one's toy doll 'experience' the great mundanity of Life - eat food, go to toilet, meet dates, go to school, go to work, have woohoo and little kiddies, rinse and repeat. *blink*

The expansion packs however sound like they spice up the basic game a little more, allowing you to customize how you might like life - with hobbies, pets, nightlife or whatever. Of course, I'm not thrilled by the microtransaction model here EITHER.

I suppose I could pirate the game if I wanted, but I admit to being a bit of a stick in the mud with PC games now. Become a habit to buy my games honestly. That said, if I were paying full price for a game, I'd expect it to be bloody good. Indie and cheap games on sale are a different matter.

But maybe these Sim-type games are too damn casual for me. Too "mainstream." I have more hardcore gamer tastes. Except maybe not, because I'm not playing FPSes by the dozen, am I? I'm not a story adventure gamer. I don't play the great mother of all MMOs, aka WoW. What the heck do I play?

Grim n' gritty story/action games? Some genre. As much as I want to pick up Dark Athena and finish Fallout 3 and Dawn of War 2, surely that's not the only thing I could and should be playing...