December and January have been spectacular for me in terms of clearing out my gaming backlog. I’ve commented on it in posts before, but there’s something really satisfying about playing games and knocking more of them off the list, finally getting to experience games I’ve been dying to play.
Whenever I tackle gaming backlogs, I tend to shoot for low-hanging fruit first, unless there is some stellar title that I am just dying to play. This means I normally go for games that I hear are shorter (or easier) and won’t delay me as I try to move through the rest of the list. Playing through these is rather simple, since there’s a clear beginning and end to the experience. I tend to run into problems, though, when I get to games like the three I’m dealing with right now: NBA 2K11, Gran Turismo 5 and Little Big Planet 2.
As two of them are expanding sports titles with deep pools of gameplay and one is a charming (and really awesome) sandbox extravaganza, it’s going to be hard to determine when I’ve hit the “end” of those titles for me. I’m fairly certain I’ve had my fill of NBA 2K11, even though there are plenty of things in the game I’ve yet to sample, but I’m not sure.
So what do you guys think? How do you normally tackle these large games that never end? When do you finally set them aside for another game? Do you do it when you’ve sampled everything? When you’re tired of the game? Go!
I stop playing a game with no clear end is when I get bored of it. Simple as. I hold on to some games for the time when I just want to go through the whole experience again be it a month or two or even a year or two later (like Fallout or Oblivion but this rule can still apply to all games).
In a game where I’ve experienced “everything” I generally move on to the next game when I get it. On some occasions I still end up playing the other game rather than the new one (eg. BFBC2 was still played more than Red Dead Redemption in the multiplayer component even though my friends and I had still experienced pretty much everything it had to offer).
That’s a good question, actually. For games with an addictive multiplayer component, like a Battlefield of a Halo I find myself coming back to it after a couple months even though I was sure I was finished when I quit. Bad Company 2, for example, I’ve been playing every weekend for at least a few hours and having some of the best games ever. Bad Company 2 was really high on my tops games of 2010 list, and deservedly so.
Halo: Reach is another example, because I could have sworn I was done with it back in October, but I’ve recently got back into it hard, playing it almost every night.
Other games I’ve come back to are big RPGs like Fallout 3 or Mass Effect 2. Basically, if it is was good enough to hook me from the outset, it’s almost guaranteed I’ll come back sooner or later.
Typically though, once I get all the achievements I feel are obtainable, that’s when I’m done with a game.
On games that have no ‘end’ or simply have an open world with a bar that goes to 100% once you have done everything possible, I tend to consider it quits once Im bored of the game. Usually, on games with a specific storyline ending, which would then require replay on harder difficulties and finding goodies, getting achievements..etc. I end the game when the story is over. If it has multiplayer I may take a crack at that. Latest example of that is Uncharted 2. I beat it on normal, and thats that. I may play some multiplayer, but for the most part the game is done. I beat the story and am waiting for the next part of the series.
For other games like COD the multiplayer provides me with constant entertainment. For other games like GTA IV or Oblivion, I play when I want and it ‘ends’ when I get bored.