You Had Me At...
Friday, July 3rd, 2009 - 6:59pm
Here's the premise: we've all had dozens--hundreds!--of moments when games hooked us, surprised us, got us to go all in. (there have been an equal number, or more, moments when we said "you lost me at..." but that's another topic). Pick one and play along.
Dear X-Men Origins: Wolverine,
You had me at the moment near the start of the game when I leaped onto the helicopter in mid-air, tore a hole in the cockpit, pulled out the pilot, and held his head into the rotor blade. Awesome.
Your pal,
Tritone
Dear Beyond Good & Evil,
You were just a tiny screenshot in a Game Informer E3 wrapup, but I noticed you immediately. You were different somehow; you had an aura about yourself. Later, you would show me your intro and as Jade sat on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean, meditating with an adorable animal child to soothing music, I was hooked.
Your admirer forever,
T-BirD
A massive pile
"Mario teaches them to push buttons, something they're probably going to be doing when they wind up working for McDonald's because you failed as a parent." -MechaSlinky
Dear Silent Hill,
You had me when little skinless children ripped me apart at the beginning of the game.
I avoid online multiplayer because my brain still works.
Dear Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare,
I'll admit, COD - I thought you were just another one of those flag waving shooters. I hadn't heard much about you because I had been out of gaming for a little while. I played through the tutorial, noting the nice little touches of realism from characters like Gaz. First date - the cargoship. From the start, it is obvious you aren't going to sugarcoat the violence and brutality of the SAS. That wasn't enough to show me your beauty, COD. I'd had other games just the same. The absolute panic of the end of that mission gave me an exhilaration I hadn't felt in a long time - Mario, James Bond cookie cutter games, boring drivers: these had all dulled my expectations of what I could feel. But COD, you showed me the way. There was the continuous examples of the "American Military Intelligence" paradox. To pick one moment is no easy task, COD - but I knew we were forever after the first act. You had me at the nuke explosion, and the crawling around thereafter. You put artistry before your demographics, COD, and I love you.
- VDO
Ratboy wrote:
Nosferatu wrote:
Dear Burnout 3,
I didn't think I liked racing games, but the first time I rammed an opposing car into a wall and watched it disintegrate in slow motion I knew there was at least one racing game I loved.
Poder
Also, did I mention VYPER DRIVE!!!?
Dear Jagged Alliance,
Unbelievably, you were on a demo station at my favorite computer store what feels like eons ago. Your sexy overhead camera that I crave so much and unique voiceovers instantly seduced me, so much so that I bought you without even really trying you before. It was the best impulse buy I've ever made. I will never forget you.
-I78
XBLive: Interstate 78 / PSN: Interstate78 / STEAM
Dear Peggle,
you had me at the title screen, when we were hearing the 6th symphony instead of the 9th. 6th + rising sun + peggle ball bouncing on the title. Everything was perfect.
Yours,
Dud.
Dead Braid,
you also had me at the title screen, when your character silhouette against the impressionist sunset comes into focus. Right from the work go, I could tell that this was something out of the ordinary.
Yours,
Dud.
These both feed into Blizzard's First Law of Videogame Polish. There's something about a really well executed title screen (I'm not talking about the intro sequence) - not endless legal screens of the publisher, developer, sundry middleware (Gamebryo, Havok, Euphoria etc.). This also feeds into when films do the same and integrate these things into the style and tone of the film (Gladiator and Kung Fu Panda spring to mind) it gets you into the headspace right away rather than boring you.
XBL BGG GR
PSN: DudleySmith74
Dear Resident Evil,
It's been a while since we've talked. I know you're more into "action" these days, and I want you to know I support you in that, even if it means we can't be together.
I just thought you'd be interested to know that, ever since the night when your zombie dogs scared my friend so bad he threw the controller to the ground, I haven't been able to forget you.
Other zombie games come and go - I think you saw me leaving the mall with Dead Rising, and you probably saw my Gamertag show me playing Left 4 Dead. But something about your silent halls and slow, shambling monsters lingers in my memory.
If you ever decide that a trip down memory lane to a creepy, deserted mansion is in your future, give me a call. You know my number. And you know I sleep with an AR15 under the bed...just in case the zombies come.
Love,
InspectorFowler
"I'm sorry, I can't hear hippies." - Ron Swanson
Dear Fallout
Ever since I've heard "War, war never changes..." I've loved you.
With longing,
Vector
Fletcher wrote:
Dear Smash TV & Total Carnage,
I love you, but f*ck you in the ear. f*ck you in the other ear.
Can I get change for a dollar?
Max
...
*edit*
Dear Mortal Kombat,
You had me at "Finish Him".. You lost me at "Stryker Wins"..
Gravediggers Registration Unit Local #041410: Vexilum Captus
The Witcher
The bit that really grabbed me and wouldn't let go was in act 2.
Dear Street Fighter 4.
You are like a lovely onion, with layers and layers and you sometimes make me cry. But once I Combo-focus-attack-dash-cancel-to-Ultra there shall be no more tears....
892 condescending Certis quotes out of a possible infinity - Elysium scores Torchlight lower than expected.
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Xfire/Xbox Live: StylezXP
Dear PC,
You had me at c:\games\doom\
Random thoughts wrote:
Steam - Denikker
Dear Deus Ex,
You had me at the conspiracy-building intro before the main menu. You secured me at "Stay out of the ladies room, would you?".
Dear LittleBigPlanet,
You seduced me at the frolicking intro screen. When I finally got into the game, you had me at the most smiling I've ever done thanks to a video game.
Dear Heavenly Sword,
You had me at the fight scene where Nariko decides to use the heavenly sword for the first time. Y'know, where Bohan shows the first signs of being a maniac
Dear Final Fantasy 6,
I don't know where you had me at for sure, perhaps it was Kefka's true-to-form megalomaniac nature, or the perfect 16-bit graphics. Maybe it was Shadow and his dog, or it could have even been the opera. All I know is, you haven't let go yet. I'm still yours.
"You're right, I should never argue The IT Crowd with you. You can be Moss, and I'll be Roy." - Bonus_Eruptus
XBL: trueheart78 | Backloggery: trueheart78
Dear Earthbound,
You had me when I realized that the kiddy graphics and cheerful music were just cover for a very deep and emotional storyline.
Dear Spore,
F*ck you.
Steam | XBL | Backloggery | PSN: VrikkGWJ
Dear Baldur's Gate,
You had me at the party based DnD combat and almost flawless recreation of what I loved about DnD.
You kept me at "Go for the eyes boo".
You broadened our relationship with Baldur's Gate 2 and its expansions.
Dear Civilization,
You almost had me fail out of school - a$$hole, but I loved you and all your siblings.
XBL Gamertag
SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM "IF YOU SEEK PEACE... PREPARE FOR WAR"
PUBLIUS RENATUS, 390 AD
Dear Crackdown,
You had me when I ecstatically kicked a Latino gangster 50 feet in the air, and continued shooting his body with a rocket launcher until I could no longer press the shoot button.
"Everyone's always in favour of saving Hitler's brain but when you put it in the body of a great white shark, ooh, suddenly you've gone too far."
Dear Warcraft II BNE,
You had when I read your manual. Having grown up playing simpler games on the Odyssey2, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Colecovision, etc., I was blown away at how different and complex you were compared to every game I'd played before. The first time I looked at your novel of a manual, I scoffed, but when I started reading it, I was immediately hooked. This type of gameplay took my idea of gaming to a whole new level. You were also my first experience with online multiplayer (and being in a clan/guild), so you will always have a special place in my heart.
Nostalgically yours,
MeatMan
Steam: [GWJ]MeatMan
Dear Red Faction: Guerrilla,
You had me the first time I managed to bring down one of your structures with four carefully place remote charges.
Yours in destruction,
i38warhawk
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Dear Halo 3,
You had me at the first teaser. I know I haven't always been faithful, but I just wanted to know that I'll always appreciate the fact that you're always there when I need you.
Sincerely,
i38warhawk
Some people call me Titanis. Steam | BC2 Stats
Dear Planescape: Torment,
You had me at getting a permanent HP bonus from a Tiefling whom I got to mistake me for a zombie and put some stitches in my chest.
Hey hey hey now, let's keep that negativity out of here. This is a happy place!
Dear Elite Beat Agents and the Ouendan series:
I was a bit leery about you at first. I'd never been a fan of rhythm games until you came along, but your simple yet engaging gameplay make it difficult to put you down.You were the first game I ever sought out to import, and I've never regretted that extra bit of expense for the incredible amount of enjoyment (and, yes, often severe frustration) you've given me.
"And now I'm off home to my castle for tea, biscuits and wenches. Tally ho!" - Jonman
"Dhelor + intarwebs = Great ideas." - wordsmythe
Dear Final Fantasy VII
You had me at that intro. I didn't have a memory card and the system was rented, but I still played the first 7 hours over and over. It started a long an tumultuous relationship with ups and downs and ups that lasts even to this day. I'm glad you hopped consoles. See you at lucky XIII!
Grenn
Justin McElroy on tracking pubtards down IRL wrote:
Dear X-Com,
You had me the first time I saw a new alien and yelled "What the f*ck is that?!"
You then continued to prove your excellence when I would repeatedly reload games to avoid losing soldiers that I had become attached to. And then there was always the "one more day" mentality so I could see what marvels were discovered in the tech tree.
A Cigar, much like Scotch and Monogamy, is an acquired taste.
McChuck wrote:
Dear Prince of Persia,
When I was a kid I only got one game a year. For my birthday. I stood in that aisle holding you in one hand and Mike Ditka's Ultimate Football in the other for like half an hour, savoring the decision. Finally I chose you, and you didn't let me down. You had me from the very moment I fell into that first pit trap full of spikes and just sorta hung there, graphically impaled and dead as f*ck.
Violently yours,
Clemenstation
P.S. Sometimes I still dream about the sound those giant razor traps made... thanks a lot.
XboxLive: Clemenstation
Dear Every JRPG Ever,
You had me the second a spiky-haired teenager displays sufficient angst to make me want to punch his head clean off. I have yet to figure out the precise mechanism by which your anachronistic, repetitive gameplay hooks me so completely that I forgive cripplingly terrible design flaws, cringe-worthy narrative and post-ludicrous plot. I love the false sense of accomplishment that I get from mainlining your drip-feed of level-ups and skill trees, and I can ignore the soul-crushing tedium of the grind as long as there's a regular stream of dings.
To this day, I maintain that I could quit any time I like, but we both know the truth, don't we?
Your bitch,
Jonman
XBL: Spiffing Wotwot
LarryC wrote:
Dear TF2,
You had me at the Demoman's taunt, "KA-BOOM!"
Love,
Grubber
****
Dear Mass Effect,
You had me at my first snarky response to Seth Green.
Lots of love,
Grubber
My Website: Gaming Culture - New Video - Most Disappointing Games of 2011
Steam
XBL
G+
Dear Half Life,
I didn't buy you at first because I was obsessed with Thief. My girlfriend at the time said it looked like every other shooter so I didn't buy you. You're still here and she's long gone.
You had me at the resonance cascade and by "Forget about Freeman" I knew I'd never let you go. The zits on your face, we'll call them "the Xen world" are overlooked as I found your mods so engaging.
It's Mister Wind to you. SteamID: mrwynd Starcraft 2: mrwynd.954 How to record a video game
Aah that was inspiring
Dear Half Life,
You had me when those Black Mesa scientists crashed in the elevator right after I pressed the button to call it
XBLive: Interstate 78 / PSN: Interstate78 / STEAM
Dear Final Fantasy VI,
I never thought I'd enjoy a trip to the opera like I did with you. While we had a lot of good times together, like when we rode the conveyor belts in that factory, or when we had a good laugh together and some R&R in Thamasa, I will always cherish the poorly-digitized time we spent together in that opera house.
How I long to be with you,
Greg
---
Dear Mass Effect,
I know you were happy to show me (spoiler), and I admire your perfect (spoiler), but to be honest, those aren't the things that made me fall in love with you. When you let me say "Too many people died here today. You don't get to walk away." and shoot a guy that I had previously promised to let go, that's when I knew I would be yours forever.
I'll never have enough of your snide insinuations,
Greg
Scratched wrote:
Dear TF2,
You had me the first time I got dominated, then revenge. That and the heavy laughing when he gets going on a killing spree.
Dear WoW,
You had me the first time running into the Barrens. The open landscape, the swelling music, and the promise of more loot.
Dear ZZT,
You may be old and ASCII, but your level editor stole my heart.
Steam | Site | Saxton Hale's Fire Safety Tip: Grizzly Bears Burn!
My Dearest Red Orchestra:
You are truly music to my ears. You had me the first time I heard the staccato clatter of an MP40 and the percussion of anti-tank rounds bouncing off the armor of a Tiger tank. While the tempo of your movements may be long-winded and your hand-to-hand combat reminiscent of the chicken dance, you will always remain a melody close to my heart.
Uraaah!
-doubleplusungood