A Month in Gaming
I’m still somewhat shocked that August has been and gone. Even by 2020 standards it’s been an odd month. Due to illness in the family, my schedule has been turned on its head and subsequently there has not been as much time for gaming as I’ve previously enjoyed. However, I tried to put what time I had to good use. I attempted to return to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online once again, to see if I could continue through the epic story. Sadly, the game has run into further server related issues, just as it did last month. Standing Stone Games community manager Jerry Snook was a little “snippy” in responding to players' concerns and at present there are no details regarding what the problem is and when it will be resolved. If this issue persists I suspect that it is going to do some genuine harm to both the player base and community relations. I hope matters improve for SSG and LOTRO over September.
However, it hasn’t been all doom and gloom. I decided to buy Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, partially due to the wealth of positive reviews and feedback surrounding the game. It is great fun and often very amusing but I do seem to have developed a love hate relationship with the gameplay. I’ve failed to qualify for more than four games in a row and hence have not experienced much variety in races and challenges so far. I’m also not a fan of the team games, as I hate losing due to others, rather than my own actions. Hence progressing through the season pass is a grind. However, I occasionally have some good fortune and no matter how poorly you play, there’s always someone worse than yourself. The large number of “Tryhards” in the game are also a drag at times, as are players using the “grab” function in a negative fashion. But then it’s hard to stay pissed off with a game that lets you dress as a Triceratops.
I have made good progress through the Season Five Battle Pass in Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone. As I suspected, players were initially quite happy to swamp the train that’s been added to the game. But a month on, no one seems interested anymore and it is substantially less dangerous to investigate now. The new FiNN Light Machine Gun has proven useful to players like me. I use the XRK LongShot Adverse barrel which provides not only an increase in range but an insane rate of fire. If you’re not especially accurate with your aiming, then these factors are a real boon. There is a degree of recoil to deal with but this can be compensated by firing in rapid bursts, rather than just holding down the trigger and hosing the gun around. Plunder continues to provide the best of both worlds with regard to play styles, so once again CoDMW/WZ has managed to hold my interest for yet another calendar month.
Over the next month, I shall be making a concerted effort to complete The Sinking City. I find that if I get sidetracked with too many other games, it is always the RPG that I’m playing that suffers. This is probably due to the fact that they need a more substantial time investment, so you can absorb the narrative. I have enjoyed this Lovecraft inspired game, despite its foibles and flaws. It certainly nailed the main themes of the Cthulhu Mythos. I think that I shall replace it with yet another RPG, as I like games with open worlds and dense lore that I can lose myself in. So I may purchase GreedFall next. It bears quite a few similarities to Amazon Game Studios forthcoming MMORPG, New World. However, after several beta tests, I have decided that the latter is not to my liking and think that the former will be a more suitable alternative. I hope that September doesn’t prove to be as tumultuous as August and that I can find the time to accommodate a new game.
