Getting bored with gaming

[Texashiker]

I dont know what it is, but over the past 4 or 5 years, I have not been impressed with the games coming out, and to be honest I am getting a little bored.

During the mid-week madness and weekend sales I have been buying games at discounted prices. Over the past year I have bought maybe a dozen games, and almost none of them make me say "wow", or even grab my attention.

Where are the games like Doom, or even something new like what half-life was. Is it "really" that difficult for developers to come up with new ideas?

For the past 2 1/2 years I have been mainly playing the left 4 dead series. But the lack of timely updates (as compared to tf2) has left me with a game that has little interest anymore.

The whole battlefield genre of games is of no interest to me.

Not interested in tf2, much prefer Fortress Forever, but the FF community leaves a lot to be desired.

About a month ago I bought fallout new vegas, it seems like a lot of fun so I might try playing it a little bit more.

Borderlands is fun, but its more fun with a friend playing co-op.

Lets get back to the current games. From the list of new games like homefront, brink, duke nukem forever, and bulletstorm, just about all them have received poor reviews. I am not going to waste my money on games that receive poor reviews.

I bought my son black ops and brink; I was not impressed with what I saw on either game.

Back in the late 1990s I was a big id software fan, but id has not made a good game in years. I am looking forward to Rage, but I have doubts about how good its going to be.

The games I am looking forward to are:

Diablo III is supposed to be out soon, and that is something I have been looking forward to.

Serious Sam BFE look interesting.

Dead Island looks interesting, that is one I am going to keep an eye on.

I really like the left 4 dead series, but valve has not been updating the game with anything new. Unless its a major bug, l4d/l4d2 are not even getting patched. Dead air was released last weekend for l4d2. But after playing a few times, I was like "so what". It seems that a whole bunch of noobs have started playing l4d2, and its just no fun with people who do not know how to play.

Over the past few years it seems to me that the whole gaming industry has taken a nose dive. Instead of creating new and interesting games, developers crank out garbage, after more garbage.

 

[gothamhunter]

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Rhezuss]

I'm in the same boat as you...

The last game I played and couldn't stop playing was Dragon Age Origins.

I remember the days when I was in high school and bought Baldur's Gate...woah that is the kind of experience and addiction i'm looking for and can't find in todays games.

I reoriented my gaming need in boardgames now and it's amazing actually playing with friends in person and not on mic/chat. You should try it!

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Just be like me and play UFO: Enemy Unknown again : )

 

[n7]

Agree with OP pretty much 100%.
I play pretty much nothing these days other than Borderlands.

I reoriented my gaming need in boardgames now and it's amazing actually playing with friends in person and not on mic/chat. You should try it!

This is true!

 

[gothamhunter]

Settlers of Catan and Munchkin FTMFW

 

[skipsneeky2]

Only first person shooter iv'e been playing is BC2.

Game play is addictive.

Not the best game with all the bugs, poor hit registry and the large amount of hacks and glitches .

All my friends but me have stopped playing it but i got a hard time wanting to play anything else.

Unreal tournament 3 i was the same way but since i don't have my disc anymore,i find a replacement hard to find in stores.

 

[gorcorps]

Settlers of Catan and Munchkin FTMFW

Munchkin is awesome. I've only played my set once... I don't have a lot of board/card game playing friends

 

[apoppin]

Getting bored with gaming

Not me

i took more than a 3 year break from gaming to set up ABT; maybe i completed one game a year while i set up my tech site (Riddick:AoDA/Borderlands/L4D/Metro 2033). However, i *completed* more games in the past 3 months than i did in the past 3 years.

And not necessarily great games:

Alice: Madess Returns
Bulletstorm
Crysis 2
Duke Nukem Forever
Dungeon Siege III
​

i also went back and REPLAYED about 80 games (in part) with 3D Vision (for a forthcoming evaluation of S3D; you might say that i am on a working vacation ) However, this time i wasn't terribly critical and i *enjoyed* playing them all. i also had the advantage of being able to play them on a relatively high-end PC.

Maybe you guys need a break from gaming. i needed a break from reviewing HW
:whiste:

 

[Beev]

This thread echoes my feelings as well, but I blame it on the increase in rehashes and yearly "sequels" that just don't hold up.

 

[Red Storm]

I've also gotten bored with gaming. I still get together with friends and play a good ole Age of Empires II LAN game every other week, but new games just don't interest me anymore. Not that I mind, this means I can sell my gaming rig and 27" display and just go with a notebook from here on out.

 

[skipsneeky2]

This thread echoes my feelings as well, but I blame it on the increase in rehashes and yearly "sequels" that just don't hold up.

Nothing beats originals

 

[Rhezuss]

Settlers of Catan and Munchkin FTMFW

Never tried Settlers but Munchkin with friends and beers is awesome! Even without beer it's awesome!

My personal favorites are Talisman 4th, Earth Reborn (2-player), Arkham Horror and many more!

As far as PC gaming goes, for now Rift take some of my time, i'm enjoying the game a couple hours at a time. It's quite fun if you take the time to play it and no powerlevel every toon you create.

 

[PowerYoga]

I've been playing a lot of shogun 2. Can't put it down actually, had to wrench myself away from it this weekend so I can actually get grocery and laundry done. Even at the grocery store I was planning how I can tackle kyoto with its 4 narrow points of entry and and bajillion archers. Finally resorted to cannon fire to break down the outer walls and gates and trebuchets to take care of the archers...

But I love those kind of games, might not be your cup of tea.

As for FPS, the last good one that I thoroughly enjoyed was modern warfare 1. And counter strike. Fable 3 (not new I know, but it came out recently for the PC I think) is pretty ok.... not fantastic and to be honest I find a lot of the stuff kind of repetitive.

 

[apoppin]

I've been playing a lot of shogun 2. Can't put it down actually, had to wrench myself away from it this weekend so I can actually get grocery and laundry done. Even at the grocery store I was planning how I can tackle kyoto with its 4 narrow points of entry and and bajillion archers. Finally resorted to cannon fire to break down the outer walls and gates and trebuchets to take care of the archers...

But I love those kind of games, might not be your cup of tea.

As for FPS, the last good one that I thoroughly enjoyed was modern warfare 1. And counter strike. Fable 3 (not new I know, but it came out recently for the PC I think) is pretty ok.... not fantastic and to be honest I find a lot of the stuff kind of repetitive.

i have been very afraid to play Shogun II for those reasons
- i might never get back to work
:'(

There are definitely some good games out now and the OP and others who respond negatively may be jaded. Move outside your favorite "type" of game and try something different. And even a lot of shooters are getting *undeservedly* bad reviews from the pro reviewers.

Lets get back to the current games. From the list of new games like homefront, brink, duke nukem forever, and bulletstorm, just about all them have received poor reviews. I am not going to waste my money on games that receive poor reviews.

Wait until they are bargain bin. Bulletstorm and DNF were far better than a lot of the reviews made them out to be. DNF was a (mindlessly) fun shooter in its own right.

 

[Texashiker]

There are definitely some good games out now and the OP and others who respond negatively may be jaded. Move outside your favorite "type" of game and try something different.

Even though I prefer regular first person shooters, I bought fallout new vegas, fallout 3, the gothic series, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, Titan Quest and Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, Mtero2033, counter-strike, counter-strike:source,,,.

My steam account http://steamcommunity.com/id/old-school-player

Metro 2033 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. are pretty nice games, but I miss the intense action like what the left 4 dead series has.

I like counter-strike:source, but only the gun games modification.

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s I played diablo II for several years, but that game finally got old.

In the past 4 or 5 years, I appears to me that developers have gotten into a comfort grove. Instead of making games that offer something new, they just want to change the graphics and call it new.

 

[apoppin]

Even though I prefer regular first person shooters, I bought fallout new vegas, fallout 3, the gothic series, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, Titan Quest and Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, Mtero2033, counter-strike, counter-strike:source,,,.

My steam account http://steamcommunity.com/id/old-school-player

Metro 2033 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. are pretty nice games, but I miss the intense action like what the left 4 dead series has.

I like counter-strike:source, but only the gun games modification.

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s I played diablo II for several years, but that game finally got old.

In the past 4 or 5 years, I appears to me that developers have gotten into a comfort grove. Instead of making games that offer something new, they just want to change the graphics and call it new.

STALKER and Metro 2033 (to a lesser extent) have more in common with RPGs than with shooters. Both are great games that i have completed.

If you like shooters with an emphasis on heavy action - ignore the reviewers and pick up Bulletstorm and DNF when they are bargain bin. They are really fun mindless shooting entertainment with some high points. Also, try Serious Sam in HD (2010 remakes), if you haven't already; even if you played the old games - they are worth a replay after ten year with great graphics. Crysis 2 is also worth a play. The gameplay is decent and the graphics are better than the original with the latest series of patches.

Looking at your games' list, i played and liked many of the same shooters that you did. i also liked Max Payne, Serious Sam, PainKiller and Prey. All with intense action. And i don't see any Duke Nukem games - which were also shooters.

 

[Via]

I really hope Dead Island is as good as it seems it might be.

 

[DaveSimmons]

It helps to have consoles to supplement the PC, to like more than shooters, and to try some indie games.

Some of my favorites from the last few years, in no particular order:

- King's Bounty The Legend & Armored Princess
- Torchlight
- Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 3
- Mass Effect 1-2
- Dragon Age 1
- The Witcher (I haven't played 2 yet)
- Crackdown (360)
- Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)
- Persona 3 FES (PS2)
- Ratchet & Clank 2 (PS2)

I also have a huge pile in the unplayed stack thanks to Steam sales and Amazon deals:
- Defense Grid
- Recettear
- Borderlands
- Uncharted 1-2 (PS3)
- a bunch of JRPGs (Persona 4, Xenosaga 3, Lost Odyssey...)

I need to clone myself a few times just to get caught up.

 

[fatpat268]

Even though I prefer regular first person shooters, I bought fallout new vegas, fallout 3, the gothic series, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, Titan Quest and Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, Mtero2033, counter-strike, counter-strike:source,,,.

To be fair, it's not like you strayed very far from FPS and loot-whore diablo style games. I highly recommend going further away from your comfort zone, maybe you'll find something new you'll enjoy. I agree FPS games have stagnated for a while now, largely due in part that most are console-first games and PC second.

Some games I recommend when they go on sale:

Darksiders - A zelda + god of war mash up. The story is nothing to write home about, but it's genuinely a fun game

Frozen Synapse - Essentially it's a turn based strategy where you have to eliminate the opposing team. The catch is, is that their moves are executed at the same time as yours. Brilliant game

Jagged Alliance 2 - Similar in idea to Frozen Synapse, but older. Pretty much everyone that I recommended JA2 to, now loves the game.

Mass Effect 1 & 2 - They're third person shooters with a decent story to back them up. ME1 focuses more on the RPG elements, and ME2 ditches those and focuses on the shooting. Can't go wrong here.

Batman Arkham Asylum - I see you already have it, but it doesn't look like you made it far in. I'm not even a batman fan, yet I loved this game. It's gameplay is vaguely similar to the metroid games where exploration and slowly increasing your abilities are the main focus of the game.


I could go on and on. And while there's no guarantee you'd like any of those games, but I highly recommend trying a game that's out of your comfort zone the next time one pops up at $5 on a steam sale. Also, gog.com a freaking gold mine for classic games on the cheap, so check there if you haven't already.

 

[shortylickens]

Me too. Even when something good comes out I usually cant appreciate it til several months after my hate has died. Fallout 3 and New Vegas come readily to mind.

I try to get more into indie games and casual games. Lower expectations means I can actually enjoy them at face value.
The good news is there's a shitload of them on Steam and they are more likely to provide demos than the big developers. Steam even has an indie category so you got no excuse to find them easily.

Check it out.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

Shouldn't you be outdoors hiking, instead of stagnating playing video games anyway?

 

[Regs]

You're just getting old. Sorry, happens to us all!

 

[shortylickens]

Shouldn't you be outdoors hiking, instead of stagnating playing video games anyway?

Its actually more important for the younger people to get out, since habits (good and bad) form early in life. If they get addicted to the pretty flashing lights during childhood their supposed adulthood is gonna suck.
And for those of us that hit the gym every morning playing games in the evening after school or work isnt gonna hurt too much.

 

[Rakewell]

Its actually more important for the younger people to get out, since habits (good and bad) form early in life. If they get addicted to the pretty flashing lights during childhood their supposed adulthood is gonna suck.
And for those of us that hit the gym every morning playing games in the evening after school or work isnt gonna hurt too much.

Very well stated.

Funny to hear one gamer lecture another gamer on a gaming forum about physical exercise.