Unfinished Symphony

How many do you have in your games collection? Those odd games that proved either too long or not worthy of your attention. The odd one or two? Or are you way up in the double figures? I know that it's something I'm guilty of; picking up a game with the intention of seeing it through to the end, only to find myself putting it down before the credits roll because the next new game is already in my possession and begging to be played. But this really does beg the question, are we missing the point of owning the game if we don't finish it?

Whilst I would prefer not to debase this blog and its good name by using the old games to films analogy, I feel that in this case the comparison is apt. When you watch a film, the only instance in which it will be left unfinished is if the film is complete load of rubbish. Whilst this does also apply to games, you are more likely to finish a good film than a good game. It could be due to length, it's easier to sit down for two to three hours to enjoy a film in its entirety, but most modern games break the twenty hour mark. If we only sit through the first 3 hours of a game, you're missing out on a serious majority of a game, and I'm not suggesting that many do only play this much of any good game.

One game that I know I'm truly guilty of leaving unfinished is Bioshock. The game totally blew me away when I started it, the cinematic feel, the sense of immersion (no pun intended) and the genuine fear I felt whenever I heard a Little Sister was nearby and her Big Daddy came obediently following. Who would of thought the line "this way Mr Biggles" would be so scary. But as the game progressed the Big Daddies stopped being scary, the game started to induce a sense of deja vu as I felt that all I was doing was running errands for more and more lunatics and wasting ammo on splicers along the way. As such, I still haven't finished it, and it's been a year since I last touched it. I'm still baffled that this game that was so appealing and awe inspiring in its opening few hours could invoke such a sense of apathy as it approached its pudgy middle bits.

Surely we're meant to be finishing these games that we've spent so very much on? Surely we owe it to those who put in intensive man hours, at the expense of time with loved ones, to bring us these electronic master pieces? Personally I vow to make a change. I promise to finish a game, before I start the next one. I make this promise in the knowledge that I know that I wont keep it. But oh well, it's nice to pretend, right?