I actually love Call of Duty and play the new one every year but I could do without all the IP crossover skins. Watching Cheech kill a Zaku or Homelander teabag Nicki Minaj is not what I’m looking for in my military shooter. I understand why they do it. Obviously it’s money but in my opinion that money comes at the cost of your games identity whether the game be Call of Duty or Magic the Gathering. It works for Fortnite because fortnite isn’t a game with an identity. It is a big blank billboard ready to advertise the latest movie, TV series or shitty truck. You can't dilute something that was never concentrated.
Both my boys play a shit ton of Rainbow Six Siege but they play it with their distinct friend groups rather than together. They asked if I’d be willing to give the game a try and I did if only because it was an opportunity for me to do something with both of them at the same time which is sort of rare actually. It’s a hard game with a steep learning curve and I die all the time very fast but seeing the two of them work together (most of the time) is the sort of thing a Dad dreams about. Generally if we win it’s because the two of them carried me to victory but after a few days of playing I’m starting to gain some skills.
The first thing I had to realize is that almost none of my Call of Duty skills transfer over. Hip firing is not a thing in R6 and you’re much more likely to find success with a slow methodical approach rather than run and gunning. It also requires a ridiculous level of map awareness as people can shoot you right through walls and track your progress on cameras. Knowing where someone is likely to be and how sightlines change through map destruction is key. The only way to learn this stuff is to play but there are so many maps that learning all their details is a daunting challenge. That’s to say nothing of the almost 100 operators to learn about each with their own unique set of skills. When each game starts I have to ask “remind me what that guy does again?” to the point where my boys suggested making me flashcards to learn all the operators.
We roped Jerry into our games over the weekend and had a blast. A team is only five players so having four of us in constant communication really helps. I’m still at the point where getting even one or two kills in a round feels like a major accomplishment and a round like I had yesterday where I killed four enemy players leaves me vibrating with pride for hours. It’s also fun to hear the shock in my kids' voices when Dad get’s the clutch kill that saves the game. I may be new to R6 but the truth is I was doing this shit long before they were born and despite what they might think, occasionally at least, the old man’s still got it.
Last but not least I read an entire fucking book over the weekend. The new book from the author of the Expanse series dropped this month and I could not put it down. It’s called The Mercy of Gods and it’s a truly kick ass hard sci-fi story of alien invasion. It's heavy on the science and the fiction which I love. It starts a bit slow but once it got going I could not get off the rollercoaster. I highly recommend it especially if like me, you enjoyed the Expanse.
-Gabe out
