When I received my first PS2 back in the day, the three games that
came with it were:
The Incredibles, an action-adventure, beat ‘em up game based
on the critically acclaimed Pixar film of the same name;
Spider-Man 2, an
action-adventure, sandbox game loosely based on the critically acclaimed film
of the same name;
and Burnout 3: Takedown, a racing game within the Burnout
series. All three games were released during 2004, and it was these games that
started my gaming collection
Over the years, my PS2 game collection had grown to a considerable
number. I had some of the most popular titles including and not limited to, The
Simpsons: Hit and Run and The Simpsons Road Rage, both games were awesome to
play and kept me entertained for hours; The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction,
a game which I consider the best sandbox game there is because of the amount of
continuous fun and unstoppable rage you can create whilst controlling one of
the most powerful superheroes in all of comic books; Stuntman, which allowed me
to create almost any insane stunt that I wished to see if my car was able to
flip this way and that to complete it successfully, but almost always ended up
either laying on its room in bits; and Worms 3D, which was prone to many glitches
and when I was playing the multiplayer with two of my friends, the game got
stuck on a worm saying ‘surf’s up’ over and over and over again, which still
haunts me today, but overall it is a good game.
The reason why I mentioned those specific six games is because during
the entire time I had a PS2, those six games were the only ones that I fully
completed the story and, or all the missions, and unlike all the others, were
the ones that I continued to play after completion. After I had finished some
of the other games, I put them to one side, and didn’t play them for a while
afterwards. I didn’t see the need to figure out why I stuck to those games more
than others, but recently, after thinking about it for a while, I came up with
an adequate reason which I would like to share with you today.
Let’s start with Spider-Man 2 and the Incredible Hulk: Ultimate
Destruction are sandbox games, which allows you to do pretty much what you want
in between progressing the story. It was these two games that made me fall in love
with that particular genre of games, because it allows for creativity,
experimentation, and unique experiences every now and again, which is why GTA V
is a close second when it comes to my greatest sandbox games of all-time. Burnout
3: Takedown, started my passion for racing games, and to this day is my niche,
mainly due to how I was practically unbeatable on the track and still am. The
thrill of driving a car at high speeds, weaving in and out of traffic, before
slamming on the breaks to take an incredibly sharp corner and when coming out
of the other side, hitting the boost button, sending my car right back to top
speed once more, doesn’t get any better than that. I did have a drought for a
year or so, but when I picked up the controller once more, I was instantly
re-hooked. And The Incredibles and the Simpsons: Hit and Run showed me that the
games that stick to a story are fun as well, if done right.
A couple more years passed, and the unfortunate happened. My PS2
passed away. By that time though, I had already purchased myself a PS3, and was
playing the popular racing game, GT5, and LittleBigPlanet. So, I made a
decision, and one that I probably shouldn’t have made. Once it was clear that
my PS2 was gone for good, I sold my games. A lot of memories and many fun times
were had playing those games, but I thought it was high time to move on. And
that’s when I realised that I had made a mistake. I should have just gotten
myself another PS2 – a second-hand one; nothing to fancy. But I didn’t. I was
convinced that it may be a waste of money as I cannot be sure that that console
wouldn’t break as well, being second-hand and all that jazz. It was during this
time I didn’t play many racing games, mainly due to the fact that I was
practically addicted to LittleBigPlanet’s build your own level section. But
when I did get back into racing games, I started to play Colin Mcrae: Dirt 2, which
I still consider as the best rally game there is.
But then, one of my closest friends introduced me to a game series
that changed my liking of story-based games. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, the
first of four games by Naughty Dog, the incredibly popular game company that
made the Crash Bandicoot games. I played Uncharted from beginning to end in a
matter of days, and the second in an even shorter space of time. I was always
that person who didn’t bother about studying the graphics over the story, but
even I had to admit that the graphics completely blew me away, which dragged me
in even further, and the story was big and bold, historic and clever. When I
heard about the third game in the series, ‘Drakes Deception’, I couldn’t wait,
and when I eventually got it, I played it right the way through. I had to admit
there and then that Naughty Dog was one of my all-time game developers, but
what cemented themselves as number one was when the Last of Us came out.
The Last of Us broke me. It was emotional from beginning to end,
the story was so immersive, the characters so relatable and developed so much
throughout the story. The ending made me weep for days. It was so good, I
played through the entire game in one day, I just couldn’t put the controller
down. The Last of Us is without a doubt, the greatest game I have ever played.
Just as a side note, my thoughts on there being a sequel are neutral – they are
neither for nor against there being one – but if they are going ahead with one,
then I am sure Naughty Dog will do a great job with it.
After I had eventually recovered from that incredible experience,
after a few months, I found myself playing more and more PC games. I should
explain. When I started college, my Grandma thought that it would be good if I
had a laptop because that way I would be able to get on with any and all assignments
that I had to complete without having to disturb anyone from the family
computer. I loved my laptop. I wrote many assignments and a couple of short
stories from time to time. It was that laptop that I actually wrote the first
half of my book, Sector 22: Zoey on… sorry, I know it was a chunky plug, but I
couldn’t resist.
Anyway, moving on. Steam is wildly known as the most popular place
to get your games from, and a couple of my friends already had accounts on
there. I didn’t think I needed one because there wasn’t any games that took my
fancy, until Train Simulator 2012 came out. I’ve been a big fan of trains all
my life, it never went away, and so I thought that this game is the best I’m going
to get to actually driving a train – I know, sad isn’t it. I didn’t know that
you needed a Steam account to play the game, so I signed up for one. And ever
since then, my Steam library has grown and grown. Train Simulator started my
liking for simulators as I brought Euro Tuck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator, but I found that I still favoured the racing games and
the sandbox games as I brought Just Cause 2 and its multiplayer, and subsequently
Just Cause 3 which it came out late last year, Garry’s Mod, GTA IV and GTA 5, Dirt:
Rally and Dirt: Showdown, Kerbal Space Program, and Universe Sandbox and its
sequel.
But, if it weren’t for the Uncharted series and the Last of Us,
then I wouldn’t have been shown the wonders of story-based games, and so I
decided to branch out a big and see what’s out there, and I discovered Little
Inferno, Human Resource Machine, and the absolutely faultless Paper, Please, which
is yet another game that broke through my emotional barrier and made me think
for days on end.
One of the reasons why I stuck with PC gaming and it gradually
becoming my number 1 place to play my games now is plainly and simply because
of the large array of mods that are available. Mods can be compared to the modern
day cheats that you would enter into your PS2 games among others, because they
can be used to unlock everything. But, they can also be used to do pretty much
whatever you want. Mods allows you to change the gameplay enough to give you a
new experience, and therefore more enjoyment. For example, the mods that I
currently have installed on Just Cause 2 are infinite health and infinite ammo,
meaning that I can go around, doing whatever I want having unlimited fun hour
after hour.
But I never forgot where all of this started. I knew when I
started playing games, but I didn’t know what led me up to this point, until
now. But what helped me generate that reason was when my friend said that he was
getting rid of one of his consoles and ask if I was interested in having it.
You may already know where this is going? I said that I didn’t really need another
console, because I’ve got my PS3 and my PC, but when he said that it was a PS2,
I brought it off him quicker than the quickest lap time I’ve ever done in GT5,
which was 59 seconds around the Top Gear Test Track in a Zonda. I then instantly
purchased four games: The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Spider-Man 2,
Burnout 3: Takedown and the Simpsons Road Rage, and when the turned up, I
played them once more, and completed them again.
The nostalgia was strong, and it was then when I discovered why I
stuck to those games when I had them before and the genres they sat in, not because
they were good games – because they were – but because when it comes to sandbox
games, when I was younger and had a mind completely void of any worries and
stress that would come later in life when I got older, they allowed my mind to
wander and wonder, I was allowed to do so much more than just follow a story, and
as I gradually became a part of all the worries and stress that come with adult
life, those games allowed me to forget about all of that for an hour or two, I
was able to just sit back and relax, and let my mind wonder and wander won’t
more. And when it comes to racing games, well, I was just naturally good at
them.
Antony Hudson
(TonyHadNouns)
My book, Sector 22: Zoey, is now available on Amazon, eBay, and SkyCat Publications' website:
Amazon:
eBay:
SkyCat Publications:
Ask me anything at:
ahudsonpresents@live.co.uk
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