Eff Pee Ess

Filling the gaps between my various single player escapes lately has a been a variety of FPSes. I've found a new-found (re-found?) love of the multiplayer shooters lately.

Topping the list has been Call of Duty 4. I've had the game since last October (birthday present) and blasted through the single player campaign (real masochists play on Veteran), but never touched the multiplayer. Whilst looking for another game to play together, Plisskin (Rhaenoth? He's going through an identity crisis), and I decided to give it a try as we both had it installed. He had pretty much played it to death and told me what a blast it was. Boy oh boy, was he right.

The multiplayer in CoD 4 has an almost RPG element to it. You get experience points for killing enemies, completing objectives, completing rounds, and completing challenges (achievements). Get enough experience and you level up (55 levels in all... all the way to 5 star general). As you level up, you unlock new weapons and new perks. The perks are really cool and let you do things like shoot a little harder, run a little farther, and even pull out a pistol right before you die for some last ditch killing. I don't quite know what it is, but for me, there is something absolutely compelling about the system. I find myself doing "just one more round" so I can get the last 3 headshots I need with a specific weapon so I can complete a challenge. The system sort of always pushes me to want to play a little bit more; it's definitely awesome. I think the best thing about the whole system is that while you are definitely at an advantage at higher levels, you can still be VERY competitive early on. I've even topped the leaderboard a few times.

I was a huge fan of CoD 1 and 2, so the play here was instantly familiar, right down to the kill cams. Infinity Ward did a great job of bringing their WWII shooters into modern times. I'm definitely a fan. I also foisted the game onto my cousin this last weekend who instantly fell in love with it. If any of you all want to play, be sure to hit me up.

Second on the list of multiplayer-ing has been the always venerable Team Fortress 2. TF2 is a game that I have played off and on since it was first released back in 2007. I've always liked the idea of the game, but something about it never quite grasped me. As I've been playing it more lately, I'm really starting to have fun with a couple of the classes.

Tonight, I played 7 or 8 rounds as a Heavy with some deadly results. At one point, Rhaenoth got on me as a Medic and charged up his Kritzkreig; the bloodbath that followed was absolutely redonkulous. I think it'd be fun to video tape me when I play a Heavy; I constantly find myself holding down both mouse buttons (the right button spins up the gun) with my mouth fully open in some sort of twisted, silent war cry. Good times.

Last and probably least is Left 4 Dead. I'm still a huge fan of this game, but the AI companions really leave me wanting. I still really want to find a couple more buddies that we can play through with. This week, we tried out the first completed user-created campaign Death Aboard. The campaign has you travel from a prison across a sinking barge with a decent finale at a lighthouse. While it lacked the polish of a proper campaign (the pacing/pathfinding in the finale event was pretty poor), over all, it was excellent. The highlight for me was definitely the sinking barge where the whole level was tilted at 20 degrees; it was a VERY nice touch and something I haven't seen done a lot in games.

We're always looking for more people to join us in our multiplayer matches. We hop on Skype (so we can make fun of each other) and let it rip. Be sure to hit me up if you have any of the games (or others!) and want to join in.