Walkthrough

I’m no stranger to video game walkthroughs or let’s plays or long plays or whatever, having even made a whole bunch myself, but at the moment it’s different.

There’s a sad little nostalgic bent to what I’m doing.

I always wanted a gaming console as a kid, just like 99% of kids throughout history (even before video games were invented), but neither of my parents had enough of an interest to purchase one. However, we did have what I at least thought were indie consoles, but I think they were more proto-modern personal computers. I’m not informed enough on the history of IT to say for sure. So, for a very brief period, our family had a Dragon 32 and an Amstrad, respectively. I reckon it would have been when dad was stationed at RAF Hereford (back when it still was an airforce base), as my mental images of said machines linger on the house we lived in at that time. I believe both machines, which required games on tape, were eventually sold for booze.

The apple didn’t fall far from that tree!

Oh golly, where am I going with this?! Oh yes…

To say the least, my experience of gaming was very much from the outside of the culture, to the point where I found myself only playing demos given away with computer magazines dad had purchased. During this period, before I finally bought a PlayStation 3 in 2012, I tried out numerous games that were usually too difficult for me (as most still are), but at least they were only demos or short games.

I technically couldn’t “fail”, as I couldn’t win at an incomplete demo. I actually find that a nice way to play games.

Cut to this month, where I’ve found myself trawling through YouTube to find walkthroughs of some of those early games I played then forgot about, either from the above proto-PCs or actual modern ones not powerful enough to fire up anything other than Microsoft Word. I did try though, much to my rising blood pressure.

Against my usual preference, I’ve just been picking out commentary-free game footage, which is actually quite therapeutic to watch anyway. The first one I found was the original Prince of Persia, which brought back some very sweet early gaming memories. This game blew our fucking minds back then! Then I moved onto the beautifully-blatant They Live + Total Recall ripoff Flashback, which was a cornerstone in my development as a grotesque teenage nerd. I’m currently watching Half-Life and Delta Force 2, which represented a new era of video gaming as a whole.

Half-Life was one of those games I only ever watched over somebody else’s shoulder. I seem to have known quite a few people into the game at different times, but of course they never let me have a go. I now understand why, as it’s not the sort of game you can just hand over to another person. I just didn’t understant that at the time. I’m finding out how much of the game wasn’t just set in a claustrophobic underground science facility, which is an interesting revelation in itself. The player I’m watching is very fast at what they do, which I could never be. I spend too much time revelling in a game’s world and.not being too fussed about progressing.

I define the concept of a “casual gamer”, much to the rage of joyless hardcore gamers.

Delta Force 2 would have been the first modern shooter I ever got to play myself. It was introduced to me while I was away at college, coincidentally back at Hereford, by my roommate. Watching it back on a 6 hour walkthrough, I’m remembering a lot of the sound effects and voice work. One of the actors sounds like Julie Bowen, of Modern Family fame, but I’ll be darned if I can confirm this.

So, yeah, just a self-indulgent comma of a post here. One can’t help but take a trip down memory lane whilst talking about popular culture, so this has been pleasant for me. Pleasant because my gaming days didn’t involve other humans, which is an important extra detail. I’m wondering which games to look up next, perhaps Jill of the Jungle or Fire & Ice. The latter’s soundtrack will forever be branded onto my soul, much like MDK’s. Oh shit! I forgot to mention MDK! No, that was the first of these walkthroughs I looked up. I was just too, erm, out of it at the time to remember.

Glug, glug, glug.

Do stay in touch, darlings.

Toodles!