G-pinions

I started playing Halo 2 again a couple of nights ago. I tend to ignore the impact it had on my gaming life - after all, I did play it three to four nights a week, several hours a night, for eleven months. Hopping back on now is quite the experience; equal parts nostalgia and reverence for the flawless gameplay, couple with the fact that the internet is still full of racist, annoying asses and the fact that I'm not the player that I once was.

My first matchmaking game in a good three months started with a lobby of people making incredibly offensive racist jokes, leading into a game where the other team would shriek loudly every time they killed one of us. Ultimately it doesn't shock me that these people exist in rather large quantities, but the idea that they can afford the purchase and maintenance of a gaming console and comprehend the online operation of such is quite a quandary. I would have thought that most of these subhumans would have moved on to the next game, but let's face it, there isn't another game to move on to.

The other part holding me back from enjoying it as much as I should (besides not playing with my clan anymore) is the feeling of wanting to throw myself through my bedroom window every time I get killed. I'm sure it has something to do with being grossly out of practice, but every slightly lopsided death makes my skin crawl with fiery frustration. I get so mad I can barely speak, and it just compounds as I play more games. Maybe it's because I'm partially adjusted to the stress-free environs of Uno and Hexic these days, or maybe I'm losing my edge. I just don't recall it being quite so bad with any other game.

That said, the gameplay and matchmaking is still absolutely perfect.