It’s been over three years since Orange Box was released. My discovery of Half Life some years earlier was fifty percent of what sold me on first person shooters. For me, the whole point of Orange Box was playing Half Life 2: Episode 2, but I wasn’t exactly unhappy about what amounted to extra games. I’d get around to them later.
When I took a break from Half Life 2 (I was playing from the start and working through the episodes), I booted up Portal. Maybe if that game had flopped, Valve would have shrugged with a no harm done; at least we made amends. You see, Portal was Valve’s way of saying “sorry it took so long to release Episode 2,” but the game was (and still is) impossibly good. It’s like Gabe Newall promised to give everyone a peck on the cheek and say he was sorry. Then, at the last minute, he passed his role off to a supermodel that threw in some free groping.
Anyway
Portal was done. Cake was seen. That clever Coulton ditty was heard. It was time to move on. I put more Half Life 2 on the plate. I’m unclear on the order of events, but I’m pretty sure the Ravenholm section of the game caused me to take yet another break. Yes, years later, that section was still a bear. Keep in mind, I still wasn’t to the episodes (let alone the newest episode: 2)…That’s when Team Fortress 2 entered the picture. It was love at first play. Planetside may be my go-to-game for large scale tactical combat, but TF2 is where I go when I was quick, visceral, team-based shooting.
I try to play with my fellow Gamers with Jobs fellows, but sometimes they’re not around. Lately, though, I’ve been playing with my son. As a reward for turning 12, he got a PC that could finally run the game, as well as formal permission to play first person shooters. I realize that TF2 is filled with exploding heads and, well, bodies, but it’s also got this Pixar quality to it that cuts the gore’s impact. The unreality of the art style gives it a pass. Think of it this way: Which is more upsetting? The war footage from Lord of the Rings or the violence in, say, Natural Born Killers?
Even if I’m not making a good fatherhood call with TF2, the other side-effect is completely awesome. I’ve bonded more with my son in hour-long gaming blocks than in a week of special activities. Maybe it shouldn’t be that way. Why didn’t the Wii engender the same thing? Maybe mediocre party-game shovel-ware isn’t enough. But, why not the board, card, and role-playing games? Actually, those do work, but they’re more about family time. TF2 is something different, and more special in the father-son department.
What twelve year old boy can resist the siren song of a backburner?
Firstly, it’s something he gets to do with dad and dad’s friends. Also, it’s a video game and those always trump every other game type. Plus, you get to shoot guns and set things on fire. The frenetic pace helps, too. Uno has nothing on TF2. The game has all the right ingredients to make understanding his passion for it a no-brainer.
When your character dies, you can spectate on the other players while waiting to re-spawn. The side effect of this is that he gets to see his old man do not so badly in combat. It doesn’t matter how much he hears that I’m good at my job or sees that I have projects I’m motivated to accomplish. Oh no. Me, playing a Medic, repeatedly shooting needles into the enemy is what impresses him.
In our second session, we played in a small game of 7 on 7. Every person matters in a game that size. We were playing defensively; our job was to stop the bomb-cart from reaching the finish line. With no small amount of teamwork (and a little luck), we eked out a narrow, but decisive victory. We chattered about the details for five minutes; it was stimulating as hell. Game time for both of us was over, but it was a good way to end our session.
Our modern lives include demanding schedules that we strive to meet. There are chores to be done, musical instruments to practice, books to read, and things to learn. But there are also enemies to kill. If I can only get my wife to play… I think some additional PC building is necessary. She may not love shooting things, but I think my boy would really respond well to that. Time with dad is one thing, but being able to tell your friends that you, your dad, and your mom kicked ass in TF2 over the weekend? Those are some hard-core bragging rights.
