2020, the year of Doom. And by that, I mean there was a surge in popularity, people on my social media feeds enjoying it, Doom 64 finally getting re-released, all of the original Doom games on sale on the eshop, and Action Button reviews Doom. Safe to say, I was spoilt for everything Doom that year, and when it was announced we were getting Quake, I was thrilled. My experience with the game had not been anywhere near as much as the frankly incredible Doom series before it.
I had played a shareware version of Quake back in the day when my pc was good enough to run it, and I have it on the Saturn (not a great way to play) and I'm pretty sure I played a demo of Quake II on the PS1.
Once I finally downloaded the Quake remaster I excitedly jumped in and went for it. I enjoyed the first couple of levels, getting used to the speed of the game, in comparison to the Dooms I'd been playing and being able to look around, as well. All good stuff.
But then something sad happened. I stopped enjoying it. The levels, while well designed just felt a bit manky and dull, not in the good ripping through hell sort of way, but in a Xbox 360 FPS of the week kind of way. Rather repetitive scooby doo corridors and enemies. I know there's a pattern to everything and a style of play to really master the game, but it felt a bit disappointing coming off the Doom frenzy of not so long ago. I'm annoyed because I was really looking forward to it. Maybe hoping to capture that spark of excitement I had when I rediscovered the Doom series a couple of years ago was probably the wrong way to go about it. Maybe my expectations were too high, or maybe it's that I'm not normally a big fan of the FPS genre and Doom is an exception to the rule. But when you compare it to one of the best games ever made, it is gonna look worse.
This one's on me. I had unreasonably high hopes for this and was left feeling dissatisfied. I did enjoy a good portion of the game. I finished all chapters (though I had to Google how to kill the end boss because I was fucking stumped), and although it took me the course of 12-18 months to get through it, I did see the occasional flash of great game in there. Taking it in small doses was the way forward.
I've played a lot of great games over the last few years, and every game isn't gonna please everyone, yet here I am taking it to heart that I didn't enjoy something I felt like I was supposed to.
Nevermind, I tried. Back to Stardew Valley.
I had played a shareware version of Quake back in the day when my pc was good enough to run it, and I have it on the Saturn (not a great way to play) and I'm pretty sure I played a demo of Quake II on the PS1.
Once I finally downloaded the Quake remaster I excitedly jumped in and went for it. I enjoyed the first couple of levels, getting used to the speed of the game, in comparison to the Dooms I'd been playing and being able to look around, as well. All good stuff.
But then something sad happened. I stopped enjoying it. The levels, while well designed just felt a bit manky and dull, not in the good ripping through hell sort of way, but in a Xbox 360 FPS of the week kind of way. Rather repetitive scooby doo corridors and enemies. I know there's a pattern to everything and a style of play to really master the game, but it felt a bit disappointing coming off the Doom frenzy of not so long ago. I'm annoyed because I was really looking forward to it. Maybe hoping to capture that spark of excitement I had when I rediscovered the Doom series a couple of years ago was probably the wrong way to go about it. Maybe my expectations were too high, or maybe it's that I'm not normally a big fan of the FPS genre and Doom is an exception to the rule. But when you compare it to one of the best games ever made, it is gonna look worse.
This one's on me. I had unreasonably high hopes for this and was left feeling dissatisfied. I did enjoy a good portion of the game. I finished all chapters (though I had to Google how to kill the end boss because I was fucking stumped), and although it took me the course of 12-18 months to get through it, I did see the occasional flash of great game in there. Taking it in small doses was the way forward.
I've played a lot of great games over the last few years, and every game isn't gonna please everyone, yet here I am taking it to heart that I didn't enjoy something I felt like I was supposed to.
Nevermind, I tried. Back to Stardew Valley.