Jul 12, 2010
I like video games. I mean I REALLY like them. To all my family and friends I am what they would call a hardcore gamer, and maybe in a sense they are correct. I do have multiple systems, I have a racing wheel to play my racing games and my microphone and guitar for rocking out. I have not one, but two headsets and a fast recharging station for my battery packs just in case I need to swap out midgame. My man room wall is covered with gaming posters, gaming related toys line my shelves and I even have a special space for the limited edition packs that come with some of my favorite titles. So yeah, I like video games, but I am not a hardcore gamer and that was drilled into my head this past weekend while I tried to complete Call of Duty 4 on Veteran difficulty…I am sooo not hardcore!
So why would I revisit COD4 after all this time, simple, I downloaded it for a clan night. I had long given up the title and figured downloading the title rather than buying used from GameStop made sense. Besides being quieter while playing, I like the fact that I can download it again if I ever swap systems or upgrade. Anyway, I digress. It was there on my HD, and I saw that I had a whole list of incomplete achievements, namely completing the game on Veteran mode. I’ll be honest, I am not an achievement whore by any means, most games are played on normal mode since I just like to relax and enjoy them rather than fight my way through hordes of enemies over and over again while I die and respawn just to say I completed the game at a higher level. But I was bored and figured why not, so I decided to go for it and get those achievements and play this game on Veteran. BIG MISTAKE.
Everything started off OK, I made my way through the opening levels with no real issue. The biggest thing I noticed was the sheer volume of grenades thrown by the enemy AI, every step was a game of dodge ball, but again, not so bad that I wanted to turn it off. As I got further along I noticed I was dying with more frequency and the enemy swarms became more problematic. In act II, the sniper flashback mission One Shot, One Kill started easily enough until I shot Zakhaev and we had to get out of Dodge. Defending my position by the Ferris wheel while awaiting pick up was a nightmare! But I was determined at this point and after several attempts cleared the level.
The next operation was not as easy and Heat proved to be my downfall, after making it all the way to the barn for extraction the news came that we had to fight our way back down to a new LZ…and that is where I lost it. No matter what I tried or how many airstrikes I called in to remove the enemy, they just respawned and gunned me down. I made it as far as the fence line ( a check point that proved to be a blessing and a curse ) before being pinned and shot every time I popped my head up. There just seems to be no way short of a lucky break to get across the road and down to the extraction point in the allotted time. Grenades, bullets, airstrikes…all proved futile, because the minute the explosions stopped, more enemies spawned and blocked my path.
After two hours of trying I gave up and decided that I am most definitely NOT a hardcore gamer.
Now I know some people feel that a title is not worth playing unless it is on the hardest setting. They get a thrill from beating what I can only call unbeatable levels while all I get is relief. So what makes one person hardcore and another just, well softcore? Based on my experiences this weekend I would have to say that for many, the game is a challenge that must be beaten, while for me the game is an escape that I want to enjoy. Please, don’t get me wrong, some may enjoy playing these games on the hardest setting, but I think there are more of us who are casual about it and so these extreme levels are just out of our league. Does playing at a reduced level reduce my enjoyment, in no way, so I have learned to live with my incomplete achievements and instead focus on playing the game the way I enjoy it most, on normal!
So for all of you out there who have beaten this game or any game for that matter on veteran, I salute you. For all of us who love to game but are not glory seeking completionists, I say be proud of your mediocrity and accept the fact that while not hardcore, we are still gamers none the less and that is what matters most.
Have an opinion on this? Leave a comment and lets discuss.
Ohh how true your post is Mac. I consider myself a fair gamer, but gave up on Veteran after the first two missions.
I decided my correct place in these games is normal. I enjoy the game, get a little challenge, but don’t get overly frustrated. I have FUN.
well said… i guess im not hardcore either cuz when it stops bein fun and becomes like a job ,i turn it off or switch back to normal
I generally stick to the normal difficulty on campaigns because if a video game causes more stress than it relieves I am doing something wrong. I commend those that push for those 1000 achievement points or 100% completion of any title….those people are hardcore for sure.
I completely agree with everybody here. Playing on the Veteran on the FPS games is more frustrating then a source of enjoyment. I remember playing Black for original XBOX and it was awesome, I beat it in a couple days and then tried the hardest level and got to about the 3 level and it seemed like no matter what I did, whatever router I tried I would die. Great article and yes, I am a mediocre player. to those that are hardcore gamers, AWESOME WORK!!
Well you got farther than me, I got stuck at the ferris wheel standoff, I’ve tried that thing a milion times, and now every time I think of attempting it I feel like it’s a huge annoying chore. Now that I’ve read your description of the next level I’m pretty sure I’ll accept my less-than-hardcore status happily.
This is a toss-up for me. I do enjoy the challenge and feeling of accomplishment playing hard/veteran modes, but do find myself quite a lot less enjoying it then when on normal. The big issue for me in regards to getting killed often on harder modes is the loss of feeling like a complete bad-ass, which is one of the main reasons I play games. I thoroughly enjoy the feeling of being the supreme pain in the ass the villains view the heroes who oppose them and when I’m getting killed every five seconds by lowly soldiers and henchmen, it feels pointless to be the hero.
For the longest time, developers associated difficulty with amount of grenades/enemies.
They’re finally waking up to the fact that difficulty should be equated with smarter AI, not just sheer volume. COD4 and W@W were extremely bad about this.
I was just thinking about going and playing through mile high again, that was always fun.
I had never previously played a game on veteran but decided to give MW2 a try. Frustrating sometimes but ultimately satisfying when you complete a particularly hard section.
I started playing Veteran on COD 2, which was an insane thing to do. Now I have done all the COD’s on Vet and even though there were moments that I thought I would quit playing forever, smash my controller into the TV screen, there was and is something about beating the game at it’s best that makes me proud as a gamer.