Meta-critic

Hey all!

Welcome back, to you and to to I.
Does absence make the heart grow fonder?

I haven't played a FPS in years. When League of Legends came along it occupied my gaming space like no other game had ever done before, and I found I had no time for other games. Gaming ceased to be my hobby, League of Legends became my hobby. Playing LoL, watching LoL, reading about LoL, patching LoL, trying out the new game modes, shopping for new skins and champs, stressing about ranked. You can see why it pretty much becomes a full-time occupation.

When I started streaming at the start of the year I started off with LoL, either NAMI TIME! <3 <3 <3 (for ranked games) or ARAM TIME! <3 <3 <3 (for ARAM, obviously). But as you know I got next to no views and I started to wonder what else people might like. I also had a bit of a hankering for Left 4 Dead 2. So I streamed a few games of this and it was 50% more popular than my LoL stream. As in, before I would get maybe 2 views, L4D2 brought me 3. Ah well. (I did get my first ever comment of "headshot!", but I didn't reply in time and they soon left.)

What I was most excited about though was the different game experience. I jumped into L4D2 looking forward to the more unrehearsed, panicky, fun moments that this kind of game can bring. After a while, LoL can feel a little formulaic in the way it is played. The pseudo-state of gaming enlightenment that is the 'meta' evolves and the game loses its random nature. New patches go some way to spicing it up a little, but it isn't long before a new meta emerges (just like the Highlander, there can be only one) and cuts the head off the old one. Now everyone must obey the new meta-king.

So I thought that playing L4D2 would be a break from the rigidity of LoL. The summer holidays to the dull but necessary term-time. It was certainly chaotic. It turns out that my friends had been playing this a little in lunch breaks and so had kept up a little practice. I however, had not played it in well over two years.

First challenge, press WASD, not QWER. This is harder than it sounds. QWER is so much more natural for a human hand. Perhaps FPS pro-gamers of the future will have evolved a strange claw where a sixth finger grows out underneath the middle finger and rests beautifully on S.  (Put your fingers on WASD to see what I mean.) After three seasons of QWER my hand had muscle memory and was afraid of change.

Next. Woah, where the hell am I looking? I remember I prefer my mouse inverted. Quick ESC to fix that.

Aaaaand let's go! It was fun! It was panicky! It was fun because it was panicky! But what's that I see emerging through the haze of jolly good freedom? No, surely not. No, it can't be! A meta! A bleeding meta. Just what I'd hoped to avoid. Turns out that the people who never left L4D2 have been secretly plotting and scheming to scientifically calculate the exact route; the exact moments; the exact hiding places; the exact weapons to take; the exact zombies to shoot and the ones to run past etc.

So precisely two rounds after starting to have fun, I stopped. I was getting killed left, right and centre. When I played as an infected, I couldn't find anywhere to spawn; either getting popped immediately or spending my whole time chasing the survivors through the level until the ultimate embarrassment pops up- You are too far away, press E to respawn :( Oh god. I fail at staying alive. I fail at being re-animated.

So onto my next game, Dirty Bomb.

It's a battle based team FPS, with no sign of zombies despite the radioactive threat. But it is new, hurrah! No meta yet, and hopefully never. It's currently in Beta and should be out very soon. I have only played the Objective maps in casual mode but so far I love it. I still am finding WASD difficult, and killing people is not really my speciality, but Dirty Bomb is very inclusive. Come one, come all!

Can't shoot but can press E every 5 seconds? Welcome :D
Don't have a clue about what's going on but can follow your teammates around? Welcome :D
Get confused when you are revived but know that you can press Q for an airstrike? WELCOME :D

It's hard to read, but I'm getting 5XP for putting an ammo pack down here.
You get even more if someone picks it up!

The reason this works is because you get points for practically anything you do that helps the team. The game is so generous in its rewards making it such a positive experience. Even if you are bottom of your team you have probably still racked up 1000+ points, so you know that you are contributing. The games are quick and so before you have done too much wrong it's onto the next map for a fresh battle.

So, for me, right now, Dirty Bomb is a real joy to play and I can't wait until I can run around with friends in there. Thank you Splash Damage/Nexon.

LoL might have to to contact my PA to find a gap in my schedule.