I have embedded the new What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying spreadsheet for March below. The overall spreadsheet (includes previous months) can be found here.
Game of the Month
Battlefield: Bad Company 2Cost: $49.99 (Limited Edition)
Played: 30 hrs
3-words: Full of destruction!
My game of the month was Battlefield: Bad Company 2
.I am a fan of the entire Battlefield series, more so than any other shooter series, and Bad Company 2 fits right into my playstyle. It's a first person shooter first and foremost, but it offers class-based team play that allows weaker FPS players to enjoy success.
I spent the majority of my time on hardcore servers where bullet damage is increased and some of the UI elements (map, target marking, ammo count, weapon info) is hidden. The "normal mode" works fine, but it can be frustrating sometimes when it takes a dozen bullets to take down a target. Also, normal mode encourages the use of only the high damage weapons and abilities; making a lot of the weapons completely worthless. In hardcore, all weapon types play a role as speed and accuracy, but lower powered weapons are still lethal.
As with Battlefield 2, I find myself playing medic in BFBC2 a lot. I am not a horrible FPS gamer, but I'm not that great either. The medic class in the Battlefield games has always been a balanced option between killing and support. This hold true in BFBC2 and with a focus on squad play, I am able to rack up the points keeping my squad going.
I've really enjoyed my 30 hours in the release version of BFBC2. Sure there has been some server and punkbuster issues, but most of them existed for less than a week. It has been smooth sailing for the latter half of the month.
Game of the Month for April: Bioshock
/Played
My /Played section is a bit short this month. I put most of my time into BFBC2 and had a mid-month lull when I took over a week off from gaming. I hadn't intended to take the week off, but between watching Lost (in the middle of Season 2 via Netflix) and a non-sleeping 6 month old, it just happened.
For the record, I did play some LEGO Universe, but I am not allowed to talk about it due to the NDA on the closed beta. Also, I am still engaged with Allods Online, but just didn't find any time to log in this month, which is fine as I do not have to pay a monthly subscription to keep my Allods account active.
Civilization 4
I put another hour into Civ4 this month. I was sort of inspired by reading up on Elemental, a 4x game that will be launching later this year.
/Paid
Total spent this Month: $0.00
My Value Rating: n/a
I made no gaming purchases this month.
