A Most Excellent Find

I am probably in a very short list of gamers who hasn’t yet touched Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The anticipation leading up to its midnight launch made me a little bit sad inside. It was released on a Wednesday, and I happened to be poor up until the Friday. ‘Two whole days behind everybody else!’ I thought, glumly. So I waited, patiently. I tried to ignore the fact that almost every person on my friends list has a massive PLAYING MODERN WARFARE 2 next to their name. I buried myself in Lost Odyssey and pretended not to care.

So Friday came. I had to work. Break time came and I rushed to GAME. Hmm, £45? A little hesitation at the price, especially as I knew I could get it from ASDA for quite a bit cheaper. But this was a special case surely? So on we go. I then glanced at the gigantic queue and tried to decide whether I could purchase, walk back to work and get changed within ten minutes. My answer was a definite nope. Saddened, I had to admit defeat. I finished work at 6. Everywhere was closed. No Modern Warfare 2 for me.

Saturday comes and goes with no purchase and friends texting me and emailing me with messages such as ‘Why haven’t you got it yet?! It is awesome!’ and I make it a mission to march right up to ASDA the next day and demand they sell me this game. So I am up bright and early… ish and very excited that finally it will come into my possession. I am almost skipping through the doors, and I rush to the entertainment section.

Hmm. Something isn’t right. I scan the shelves, and I can’t see the all too familiar case that has been haunting me for the last five days. I have a grave feeling about what this means. Slowly I make my way to the counter. ‘Do you have any more copies?’ I ask, even though I already know the answer. They’re all gone. Sold out. I am quite put out by this, as you can imagine, so to cheer me up I take a look at what else is about. I look around for quite some time, maybe hoping that a delivery man will burst through the door with a sack load of copies of Modern Warfare 2 and all will be well, although this unfortunately does not happen.

As I browse the games (and pray for the aforementioned delivery man), one title keeps catching my eye. It is called Dragon Age: Origins, an interesting sounding RPG. I walk around and find myself returning to it. I read the back about five or six times. I haven’t heard much about it but I know it has had some good reviews. After the seventh time returning to it, I decide that I will try it out. At the very least it will keep me entertained until I actually manage to buy the game I wanted, and if I don’t like it, it can go on the part exchange pile.

I get home, put it on and before I know it, I seem to have somehow clocked up 40 hours of gameplay. Dragon Age: Origins seems to have shoved its way into my top games list. I have played this pretty much all the time, since I bought it. I had almost forgotten what it was like to find a gem that I didn’t know much about. Quite refreshing. I think, for the moment, I can wait for Modern Warfare 2 a little while longer.