Shooters Vs Everything Else

As a hardcore gamer, I know it’s important to branch out; it’s good to play different genres and series. Hell, my collection ranges from Call of Duty to Portal and whilst they’re both technically shooters, one revolves around puzzles and actually using your brain whereas the other requires to switch the thinking part of you off and unload a bucket-load of lead into the enemies’ chests.

However, my friends don’t see it that way. A lot of the people I know are devout followers of all things Call of Duty, standing outside the shop at midnight to pick up the next instalment and playing it until they reach that elusive 10th Prestige.In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with doing that; if you play games to chill out then spending a few hours on Call of Duty isn’t a bad idea. But there are better games out there. I am, in no way, saying I hate the series; I enjoy running around killing people mindlessly as much as the next person, but I like to try different things.

Recently, I started playing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and found the experience to be a brilliant one. The graphics were constantly stunning, the story was interesting and the gameplay varied, seamlessly blending all-out action with a healthy mixture of innovative puzzles and frequently-frustrating platforming sections. A few days later, I mentioned to a friend that I had started playing the aforementioned title and suggested they should check it out too. The response they gave me was one that shocked me and made me think. They said “I don’t want to because it’s not like Call of Duty”. After I was resuscitated by paramedics, I realised that Call of Duty really has taken over the world.

Joking apart, his response made me frustrated that if all the gamers of today are bothered about is “CoD” (as it is more commonly known) then that means that they are missing out on some genuinely stunning titles, like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, just because they don’t want to branch out and try new things.

I don’t have a personal vendetta against first person shooters; one of my favourite games of all time is a shooter. Half-Life 2 will always have a special spot in my heart to me mainly because of its originality with the physics-based puzzles and intriguing storyline. And the ending of Half Life 2: Episode 2 will forever remain my favourite cliff-hanger of all time, but I won’t spoil it for you.

Looking at my friends list on the PS3, Xbox 360 and on Steam, I notice that a hefty chunk of people are playing an online shooter of some sort, be it Call of Duty or Battlefield: Bad Company 2. If all people cared about was ranking up online then most of the effort in creating a video game would go to waste. Dead Space 2 has a stunning single player aspect and a less-so brilliant online mode; if people just bought that for the online, then the 12 hours of sheer genius game design would be lost.

Games like Heavy Rain and Mafia II revolve around the story and those stunning narratives are being lost because people would just rather shoot things online. Most of my friends never even touched the single player of Call of Duty: Black Ops so therefore didn’t know what me and a few mates were talking about when we said that the “big reveal” made us “put the pad down and breathe for a few seconds”.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t play online shooters; most of a title’s replayability is found in the multiplayer offerings. And if you would much rather switch your brain off for a few hours then, like I’ve said, playing online isn’t a bad idea.

But, every now and then, when you enter a game shop, look at a title that’s unlike anything you’ve ever played before, something like Portal 2 for example, and just think to yourself “Would I enjoy this?” and sometimes you can be surprised. Sometimes you may find that RTS’ may become your new favourite genre. More often you can realise that Call of Duty is where your heart is and the last 700 words have been a waste. But, you could take the chance.