![]() Street Fighter IV (and the modern fighting game in general) is all pop and twitch. If I'm going to spend a serious amount of my time on a game, I need it to be a multi-faceted experience that rewards every ounce of obsession I load into it. The reason StarCraft 2 stuck while Street Fighter 4 didn't is because if I'm looking to settle down with something that brands itself as an e-sport, then I need it to behave like a sport. To get back on track, going between these two games actually taught me what I enjoy about hyper-competitive titles. ![]() You were just too inexperienced to know it. If you find yourself overwhelmed by a hopeless rush, you lost the match minutes ago. The actual game of SC2 isn't in those climactic rushes, but in predicting, scouting and defending against them. Throwing your arms up in despair as your base is overwhelmed by a seemingly unstoppable rush is every bit as idiotic as shaking your head in sad disdain when your SFIV opponent KOs you by playing aggressively and simply punching your face many times. StarCraft 2 is only a game about rushes in the sense that Street Fighter IV is a game about punches. The game is brutal, and I suck, and I love it.Ī lot of critics of StarCraft use the word "rush" in a derogatory sense as if the prevalence of rushes somehow makes the game more crude, so I just want to quickly clarify things. That it has a reputation for superfast rushes is testament to that. SC2 is a fierce, hungry game that demands superhuman multitasking ability and an animal rate of clicks per minute. I figured out why eventually, but only because I started seeing- uh, playing StarCraft 2.ĭon't think that because it's an RTS StarCraft 2 is somehow softer than Street Fighter IV. Not wanting to get better at it is a problem, and the idea of getting good at SFIV didn't appeal at all. With hindsight it seems obvious that SFIV didn't hold my interest because I was never any good at it, but I know that's wrong. There was only me, and defeat, and the occasional success that would always be chased up by another quick defeat. He wasn't very big.īut there were no trucks. Every time my planned special move failed to materialise I felt like flinging the game disc under a truck, and every time my flatmate kicked my ass I felt like flinging him under a truck. I'd always told myself that if the right fighting game came along I'd give it my time, and yet here was unquestionably the "right" fighting game- how could anyone get it more right? But I couldn't be bothered to train. We were charmed.īut it didn't stick for me, which was kind of crushing. It had it all- this game was massively sophisticated, it was beautiful, and it even had a sense of humour. (If this is ringing any bells for you, it's because Penny Arcade got there years ago.)Įventually Street Fighter IV was released, and my flatmate fell for it pretty much instantly. ![]() VF5: Would you like to not load the save data that isn't there? Incidentally (since any dedicated PC gamers are unlikely to experience it), as one of the first Japanese games to appear on the PS3 with its new fangled hard drive, Virtua Fighter 5 has the most astonishingly awkward initial start-up sequence of all time. We were searching for something we could play together to settle disputes, a game which might simplify the awkwardness that arose whenever I chose not to pay bills or my grubby cohabitant left toenail clippings on the toilet seat.įor a while the closest we got was Virtua Fighter 5, where we got as far as choosing our characters ( mine, his) and perhaps half an hour each of rote move memorisation before losing interest. When I was living in Edinburgh my flatmate and I spent the better part of six months trying a ton of different fighting games. More difficultly, it also requires that you choose a suitor. Unlike the very male experience of playing whatever, whenever, basically playing as much as you can get, basically waddling around the game shop with your trousers round your ankles, choosing to get good at a game requires commitment, or even devotion. There's something distinctly feminine about choosing to get really good at a game. ![]()
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