Non-MMO excitement?

First and foremost, I'm a gamer...a gamer that really loves MMOs and the MMO community...but a gamer none the less. However, there is a single player game coming out this month that has got me kinda excited, and that would be Silent Hunter 4.

Its been a loooong time since I've played a sub simulation game. I have very fond memories of staying up late at night hunting for ships to sink. I think the last one I played was 688(i) Hunter/Killer by Jane's Combat Simulations (ahhhh, Jane's...where fore art thou).

Why would I buy this...in fact, why did I pre-order it? Glad you asked, oh mainly MMO audience who is about to lynch me. Little back story. Waaaay back in my gaming career (/laf...gaming "career"), there was a game called Gunship 2000 by Micropose. I played that game until my eyes turned inside out. One of the features I loved was the fact that you progressed in military rank from Warrent 1 to General (...at least I think General was the highest). You also got medals. Added to that, you usually had a couple of wingmen with you on missions and you got to promote them and give them medals as well. As your wingmen increased in rank, they got better at their jobs and therefore, were of more valuable to you. I loved this concept....being able to assign ranks and medals and actually creating value in your wingmen. I also waited in heavy anticipation after each mission for that next rank to be given to me. It's almost MMO-ish and maybe this game was a big influence on my love for the genre.

Anyway...in Silent Hunter 4, the men in your sub increase in rank and grow in skill as you complete missions. I've been waiting for a game with this feature in it for a while now, and it looks like this will be it. I'm not too sure if the player character increases in rank and you go, nor do I know if you get medals and such, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. The graphics look really spectacular as well. It'll be a nice break from the MMO world for me and I'm really looking forward to getting into a sub again. I know its seems kinda "gamey" with ranks and medals, but Gunship 2000 brought a certain value to the men you commanded in your squad. We really don't see that anymore in flightsims, RTS or even MMOs....everything on the screen is a disposable drone. Oh well...here's hoping that this game brings back that feature that I've been missing.

...so concludes my non-MMO musings for this month. You can now put your pitchforks away.

D out.