Parole...

Back in they day, I used to be into computer video games. Not the Playstation style games so much, however recently the whole family has gotten into these, but those games actually played on a computer.

I really got into the first person shooter type games like Counterstrike, Medal of Honor, Rainbow Six, and other first-person-shooter games too numerous to mention... Also the Strategy games like Command and Conquer were some of my favorites...

Before we moved to New York, we used to have gatherings we several other couples in Lansing. We would all meet up at one particular friends house and have cookouts and have a great time. As the evening wore down, the guys would head into the basement with their laptops and the ladies would hang out upstairs doing whatever they do...

The children, at the time it was only Jonah for us, would all hang out and play between the Ladies upstairs and the guys downstairs.

As I mentioned before, whatever the ladies did up there, I have no idea. Speculation on my part would be folly, and quite frankly I've fried WAY too many brain cells trying to figure women out. I'm content knowing that I'll never really understand them completely. That's not a bad thing, it always keeps things interesting...

Anyway, Back to the geeks downstairs...

We would set up the laptops into a quick network and start shooting each other on numerous battlefields of one or another. Our game of choice at the time was Half Life: Counterstrike. One set of us would be on the team of terrorists while the other's played the part of Counter-terrorists. Essentially it's digital hide and seek combined with paintball. In this way there is little physical exertion other than finger movements and the occassional drink from a soda or beer. We also didn't have the sting of a paintball or the cleanup afterwards.

Those were the days...

That was long ago...

We have all now moved on to other locations of the country and have pretty much lost contact with one another. Some of us still keep in contact, but the days of the impromptu "Come over, bring some snacks and your laptop", have gone away.

Until a month or so ago...

My wife surprised me out of blue with a comment that threw me. She asked me if I had spoken with Pete lately. This led to, you should see about going online and playing some games again with him...

I was floored, "Who are you, and what have you done with my wife?" Came to mind, but was NOT spoken. Do not look a gift horse in the mouth, and do NOT try to read into the why's behind the statement. "Take it and RUN!" the emaciated gaming portion of my mind screamed.

I hid my excitement as I probed the situation carefully. I half expected her to laugh at me and call it a joke. But she was serious.

Within minutes I was contacting my old buddy Pete to find out what game they have been playing lately. Pete, being one of the founding members of 1776gamers, was the host for our gaming parties in the past. They had always been dedicated with Counterstrike and it's newer versions but had recently turend to Battlefield 2 and a specific modification of it called Project Reality.

In a word... Wow...

I've got to say this, the graphics are very good, the maps are huge, and there are lots of people able to play all at once. The best part is, the price is right. You can pick up the main game for $10 at Best Buy and the Project reality modification is free. No complaints from me!

This version of the game is rather unforgiving. You can't take all that much damage before your character is dead. This is all part of the idea of the reality project. They wanted to make it seem much more real. And they have achieved this very well.

So I am on the learning curve right now with this game, but enjoying it. I get to hang out with my old friend and am making some new ones as well. We meet up a couple times per week and shoot at one another, have a few laughs and stay up way past our bedtimes.

Pass the chips, grab a soda and join in the fun!

If you are curious about this game and it's modification, here's a video teaser to check out... WOW! Yeah, I guess I'm still a geek at heart... :)