Gaming for the easily distracted

Choice is a funny thing, turning the most dedicated fan into a fickle dabbler.

Up until last weekend I was burning through the single player missions in Operation Flashpoint 2.

Before going any further. this game has been the victim of an unfair online bashing, although hindsight should have seen it coming. Game developers really can't expect to produce a 'tactical' first person shooter with the detailed heritage of Operation Flashpoint and forget to include a robust multiplayer component. Codemasters did and consequently mulitplayer fans (who by their very nature spend a lot of time online) took the protests to the forums blogs and quite frankly anyone else who would publish their complaints.

Sadly, the game is quite a good first person shooter. When played in hardcore mode its like Ghost Recon Advanced Warrior but with a huge and open sandbox. Admittedly, the lack of save points throughout the entire mission in hardcore has had me playing through the campaign longer than I would have if there was an opportunity to save wherever I pleased or even with preset autosaves. At least the experience hasn't been as painful as say, Mass Effect whose savepoints can make you sit through the same cut-scene over and over.

Back to the point
So, making my way through OF: DR when I see the pre-order offer for Napoleon: Total War on Steam which not only throws in some elite units but also Medievel War 2: Total War. Call me impulsive, but I bought it. While I was waiting for to download I loaded up Empire: Total War.

Well, 22 gaming hours later Sweden is a bustling nation breaking out and spilling over its nieghbor's borders whether invited or not.

As of this moment and according to Steam (which doesn't track all of the games for playing time) I have given my fickle gaming love to ETW first and and foremost lately with 22 current hours and 120 total, OF:DR a not so close second with 5 recent hours and 65 total and bringing up third is my experiment of playing the original Mass Effect with 1.2 recent hours and 9 total.

As mentioned before, the Mass Effect is to see if I like genre and title enough to invest money and time into the upcoming follow up and new release.

The diagnosis doesn't look promising.