Jun 18 2012
The Five Most Satisfying Moments in Video Gaming
The Victory
Lacking the ability to post the highest score worldwide, all we can do is hope to win the next Deathmatch, the next Capture the Flag, the next 1v1 on Taldarim Altar, the next bout of Summoner’s Rift.
In modern gaming, there are usually four types of wins and losses when you play. You either lose by a lot or a little, both of which can be equally infuriating, or you win by a lot or a little, both of which can be equally excellent.
It may sound lame, but my favorite Call of Duty memories actually come from games where I’ve absolutely demolished my opponents. Yes, they may have been toddlers who figured out how to turn on an Xbox, but winning 10 games in a row against a group by 40 kills or more each time is just so satisfying. For someone who isn’t used to 20 kill 1 death games, there’s nothing more magical than to go on a tear like that. And it doesn’t happen often.
Conversely, winning by an inch can be possibly the best feeling in all of gaming. There’s nothing like a League of Legends game that lasts 60 minutes where you thought you were going to lose on five different occasions, only to have your team rally and win one big team fight and be able to push for the win. Squeaking out a win can be just as much fun as dominating, if not more so.
The Tear
That would be “tear” as in the ones that come from your face, not “tear” as in, “there’s nothing more magical than to go on a tear like that” as I just mentioned in the entry above.
This is the only item on the list that is truly out of the player’s control. It’s a recent phenomenon that only comes from a game that has good enough writing to make you actually feel something. Not many people go into games expecting to have actual emotions drawn out of them, but it’s happening more and more as games get stories that are on par with or even better than movies.
It might be easy to pinpoint your moment like this, as I predict many have a certain sad memory associatde with the fate of poor Aeris. But after that? There are emotional moments wherever you turn in gaming these days. Mass Effect? Red Dead Redemption? Heavy Rain? Powerful stories are everywhere you look.
It might not literally send tears down your face, but I bet there’s a moment or two in a game recently that has gotten a reaction out of you that you probably weren’t expecting. In fact, I think the best written games can actually be MORE powerful than movies, as you have 10x the amount of time to get to know your characters, and as you actually control them, they feel like a part of you, and therefore you care about their fates more.
That’s all I’ve got for now, so discuss and suggest more if you like.
More Unreal Posts
MORDIN!!!!
Spoilers follow:
I am currently playing through the Mass Effect series after getting an x-box last year. In ONE day of ME3, Mordin, Thane, and Kelly Chambers died….and I killed Udina. The first 3 were like a punch to the gut.
you missed something that can only be felt in a fighting game…the highest of high and simultaneously the lowest the lows. The Perfect, getting P’d on (in the vernacular) is humilating while delivering grants you satisfaction of knowing how thoroughly you just dominated someone.
What about reaching level cap in a mmorpg? Hitting level 60 for the first time in WoW, really felt like a worthy accomplishment at the time.
Had to be him. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.
I have to agree with the tears part. I cried at the end of Assassin’s Creed Revelations. It was just so touching.
“It’s funny, I actually judge the quality of a game sometimes based on the possibility of just how ridiculous kills can be.”
I said nearly this exact sentence to someone the other day trying to explain what makes Max Payne 3′s multiplayer so fun. It’s also what made Halo so fun getting double kills and triple kills all day, but chasing the extermination, overkill, killtacular, killamanjaro, kept the game fresh, to me.
You also touched on the stories in games, how they are getting better and are more powerful than movies. You are 100% right with me on this one. The number of people ive gotten to play heavy rain is the same number i have watched complete the game. The game is so engrossing.
On another note, i have only just recently completed mass effect 2 and I was blown away. I played like I thought Mal Reynolds would, and I believe i was a better man after it, however strange that sounds. wwmrd
I actually love stealth kills more than headshots in pvp games. The murder animations in Halo: Reach were just too awesome and perfect for shit talk.
I would have to say the 100% mark or Achievements lists are also highly desirable goals. I’ve recently beaten the story on Arkham city only to find out I’m less than 60% complete with the game. I have side missions, hidden trophies, and individual combat missions to complete before I can see that magic number.
It’s also equally satisfying to look at my list of achievements for a game and compare them internationally so see how many I’ve done that others haven’t. I may never get a K/D ratio above 2 but knowing that I beat the game on extreme and that 96% of the people who have the game haven’t makes me feel pretty good.
For ‘The Tear’:
Virmire- ME1. I talked Wrex down, my brother didn’t. Seeing Wrex get mercilessly gunned down was rough, and that wasn’t even my playthrough. Also the Choice.
Project Overlord-ME2. How do you let that happen, let alone do it to your brother?
About 1/4 of ME3.
The all time best tear jerker is Phantasy Star IV. This was well before the current PS games (and completely unrelated?); a Sega Genesis original. If you didn’t (and don’t) tear up after your first crack at Zio, you don’t have a heart. Play the game.
I was going to say completing the pokedex, but.. In hindsight, all you get is a certificate.
It’s actually a crushing feeling.
Can’t believe you didn’t mention Counter Strike in relation to headshots. I mean, the AWP and “boom, headshot” pretty much define headshots in shooters.
Good list though
Two words….Fadeless Train
I agree with trashcanman that the Stealth kill is more satisfying than the headshot. When playing MAG, nothing got the blood pumping faster than hiding behind enemy lines, waiting for the last enemy of the spawn wave to pass by you, and running behind the lot of them and catching them off guard with a sneak attack using a silenced SMG…only to disappear when they come looking for you in retaliation.
And as for the Tear moment; The one scene in my 20+ years(I’m 22, yay for teen parents
) of gaming did I react the most to the return to Shadow Moses in MGS4. Just getting to the helipad was nostalgic enough….but then The Best is Yet to Come started playing, and the tears came out as the back of my spine started to shiver….
Paul,
Glad to see this wasn’t a retread of last week’s Cracked article (this was the same subject matter, but you actually had original ideas you introduced). Cracked rehashes were becoming something of a trend here with your dissapointing back up writers you’ve brought in.
In the gta4 multiplayer I remember sniping out other players while theyre driving around the airport. That was great.
I remember in GTA multi I would always try and run down the other players and do drive bys. One time there was a glitch and we could hear the opposing team in my headset. We were fighting in the street and I drove a convertible full speed over a curb and went airborne into a pack of other players. All I heard on my headset was yells of OH! and DAMN!, so great:)