Curse of Seasons

Seasons. Every modern multiplayer game seems to have them, and why not? It’s a great way to keep player occupied and make them come back every day to get those special unlocks and join once-in-a-lifetime events and then get them interested in the next season. But at the same time this temporality drives away players like me, who just want to jump in from time to time and play few games. But as you don't have those fancy grinded hats or outfits it almost feels like you're an outcast. At the same time it's fantastic to have something to reward players who invest their time on specific game, but maybe it could be (still) done like in old Call of Duty games instead? You play when you want, everything is available for you even if you're finding the game years after it's launch and there's no rush or need to be active all the time. 

But then again, I play mostly multiplayer shooters from the mid-2000's when the whole game industry in general was very different. For example, if you wanted some flashy skins for your Counter-Strike characters you went to sites like Gamebanana and installed them yourself. Of course others were not able to see those skins, but it didn't matter. Point was to made your personal experience truly yours. 

Maybe it's not really seasons that I'm mad about. Maybe it's skins. If you think about it, for example Team Fortress 2 is pretty silly game with silly graphics, but it wasn't until the hat invasion that the game's art direction kinda melted away and became this mess it is nowadays. On the other hand we have games like Overwatch in which skins are more in line with the general art style. And both of these games don't even have seasons - most of the time things you unlock or buy won't effect the gameplay.

I normally start playing multiplayer games years after they've been released, when the hype has died and in the worst case players have already left (poor Brink). So maybe after all there's nothing wrong with the concept of season for your target audience, but for players like me: those who want to be able to do and unlock everything on their own pace rather than following the trends. 

Then again, it's hard to keep players focused on your game when there's so much else to play, so the seasonal concept works well for that as Fortnite and other such games have proven.

Oh, I still remember when Fortnite was just a ''little'' PVE that no-one knew about...

To conclude this babbling, I'd say that seasons are cool and stuff, but I personally rather have games where mostly only seasonal events are Halloween or Christmas themed. But that's me, and you probably have your own preferences. Let's remember that the most important thing is to enjoy the games you play.

Going through my old Steam reviews (Part 1)

Sometimes you forget things that you have done in your life - like I forgot Steam reviews I wrote years ago. I thought it would be fun to go through all of the small reviews I wrote between 2012 - 2014 and see, have my opinions changed or have I written just some smelly garbage. This is gonna be a few parts long blog series, so follow my Twitter (@MZ_plays_games) to stay tuned when the next part is published!

I had ''a concept'' with my reviews: few ''funny'' lines and a number rating with maximum being 10. These first ones are in Finnish and it seems that I've posted almost all of them during the same day.

Ah yes. Team Fortress 2, ''the lan-party dream game''. Back in 2012 younger me thought that TF2 is ''the best and funniest online FPS ever, which you can not get tired of, thanks to comic characters, many hats and mods. Especially when your team plays well together TF2 is one of the most addictive games ever!''

Well, is till think that TF2 is the best online FPS, though I haven't played it much lately because of the bots and because I found Overwatch, which have given me some of the same feeling that TF2 had when I started gaming. I have many good memories of TF2 and I don't think that any game can ever come close to it, but nowadays it is just a mess that is probably never gonna get cleaned up. And that's kinda sad.

Also 9/10? This game deserves 100/10!

Another online FPS that I hold dear, Day of Defeat: Source. I said that ''this Counter-Strike stylish WWII shooter is nice change to all the games that are based on the modern days.'' I think that what I wanted to say was that I was tired to both Battlefield and Call of Duty (and maybe CS itself) just releasing new games with boring modern day scenarios? 

''It's just awesome to walk towards the sunset in the Mojave wasteland with your follower. You should install the best mods so the game shines straight away.'' Very poetic, indeed. I don't really care about number ratings anymore, but how have I given to my all time favourite Fallout game only 9/10? I must have been sick on my head!

I think that Fallout games peaked on New Vegas. In fact I think that open-world games peaked on New Vegas - it has something that any game after or before haven't been able to achieve. But what exactly? I think that is a blog post for the future.

''Best part of the best game series. Realistic characters, great atmosphere, intelligent enemies and countless mods make sure that you return to Half-life 2 again and again.'' But as you can see, I haven't returned to this game after 2012, which is a shame as I think about this game almost everyday. I should replay it soon.

It seems that back in the day mods were a thing that I was looking out on the games. I miss that, because as I've grown older and smellier, I mostly want my games to be as finished as they can be - I sure enjoy bugs and glitches, but I have no time and energy to search for new content. 

Though nowadays I want to play older games on the consoles so I think it's okay.

”One of the best co-op games ever. Killing zombies with a good team is fun. Great setting and multiple weapons are the icing on a cake.” To this day Left 4 Dead 2 is my favourite zombie game - though I have played it less than it feels like. One of my best memories is going through the demo of the game and cutting zombies into pieces… It would be cool to relive those moments!

I think that with right mods Left 4 Dead 2 works as a great singleplayer experience - no special infected, no teammates, just you and hordes of undeads. It’s challenging and kinda scary as it’s pretty much game over if you die because there’s no-one to revive you.

Left 4 Dead 2 is one of the few games that I come back from time to time, playing few custom campaigns. During this pandemic it has been almost therapeutic experience.

That’s all for Part 1! Part 2 will probably be out in September.

''No one has rated this review as helpful yet.''

Team Fortress 2

Julkaistu: 2007
Alustat: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox 360, PS3
Kehittäjä: Valve Corporation
Julkaisija: Valve Corporation
Pelimoottori: Source

Team Fortress 2 on kokenut vuosien aikana melkoisen muodonmuutoksen. Kun ensimmäisen kerran pelasin TF2:ta vuosia sitten, se oli vielä maksullinen, hattuinvaasio ei ollut alkanut ja pelimuotoja ja karttoja oli vain kourallinen. Nyt, vuonna 2015, pelistä on tullut Free 2 Play, hattuja ja muuta oheissälää on enemmän kuin kukaan jaksaa laskea, yhteisö on vahvasti mukana pelin kehityksessä ja pelimuotoja alkaa olla jo ihan riittävästi. Mukana on jopa CO-OP!

TF2 opettaa uimaan.

''Heavy feels funny''
TF2 on pohjimmiltaan perinteinen arcaderäiskintä yhdeksällä suljetulla hahmoluokalla, joilla jokaisella on oma tehtävänsä. Medic parantaa, Spy napsii vihollistiimin tarkka-ampujia ja Engineer esimerkiksi suojaa omaa komentopistettä. Hahmot ovat riittävän erilaisia ja toimivat hyvin yhteen, ja jokainen löytää varmasti oman suosikkinsa.

Tietyt pelimuodot valitettavasti suosivat tietynlaisia hahmoja, mikä voi aiheuttaa esim. sen, että puolet tiimistä on Scoutteja. Ennen vanhaan monilla servereillä oli rajoituksia mm. Snipereiden määrästä, mutta nykyään F2P-kansan keskellä virallisilla servuilla näin ei ole, mikä saa välillä hermot kireälle.

F2P-pohjaisuus aiheuttaa myös sen, että välillä pelit ovat epäreiluja; vastapuolella on hyvin yhteen pelaavia TF-veteraaneja, ja omalla puolella lähinnä vaihteluun ja hattujen craftaamiseen keskittyviä venäläisiä. Taistele siinä sitten yksin koko vihollistiimiä vastaan!

TF2 opettaa seisomaan jonossa.

''Boink!''
TF2 on melkein kymmenisen vuotta vanha peli, mutta se on silti monella tapaa nykyaikainen. Hahmojen asusteita pystyy muuttamaan lukuisilla eri tavoilla, ja peliin on ympätty niin videoeditoria kuin ns. juhlakausi-päivityksiä ja -tapahtumia. Jouluna TF2 kietoutuu lumeen, Halloweenina vereen.

TF2 on graafisesti hyvän näköinen. Ikivanha Source-pelimoottori pyörittää peliä kauniisti, ja sarjakuvamainen ulkoasu takaa sen, että grafiikka vanhenee hitaasti verrattuna realistisiin militaristiräiskintöihin. Jatkuvat päivitykset pitävät myös huolen siitä, että efektit ja äänimaailma pysyvät tuoreina.

Pari vuotta sitten lisätty Mann vs. Machine -pelimuoto toi peliin yhteistyötilan, jossa yhdeksän hengen tiimi taistelee alati kovenevaa robottiarmeijaa vastaan. Itse en ole kauheasti innostunut kyseisestä pelimuodosta, se ei jotenkin vaan sovi TF2-muottiin ja random-porukalla siitä tulee lähinnä sählinkiä. Ne harvat kerrat kun on saanut hyvin toimivan kaveriporukan kasaan ovat kuitenkin ihan nautittavia kokemuksia. Valitettavasti pelimuodon kartat ovat melko tylsiä ja mitäänsanomattomia.

TF2 opettaa painimaan täytetyn jetin kanssa.

''Medic!''
TF2:n etu ja vahvuus muihin ilmaisiin ja maksullisiin nettiräiskintöihin on sen jatkuva taustatarina. Kaikki uudet päivitykset perustuvat sarjakuvan keinoin kerrottavaan tarinaan, jolla syvennetään Team Fortressin maailmaa. Sarjikset kannattaa lukea vaikkei pelistä niinkään välittäisi, sillä ne ovat ammattitaitoisia ja hauskoja.

TF2 on parhaita nettiräiskintöjä koskaan. Vaikka ikä alkaa jo pikkuhiljaa näkyä, ei meno ole hyytynyt, ja uudet pelaajat löytävät tiensä jatkuvasti pelin luo. Suosittelen.

+ Pelattavuus
+ Paljon pelimuotoja
+ Aseet
+ Hahmoluokat
+ Sarjakuvamainen grafiikka
+ Taustatarina
- Mann vs. machine
- Pelaajat jotka eivät keskity pelaamiseen