I'm not really impatient about games and I've never been one of those people who are angry at Valve for taking so long. Maybe this is just a weird mood I'm in lately, but in some strange way I really feel like I'm at a time in my life where I want HL3 to come out soon. I feel like I really need the game right now.
I can't tell if it's that I haven't gotten the kind of satisfaction from games in a long time I got back when I first played through HL2 or if I'm just worried if I'm getting to the point where I'm just not going to care any more.
It's not that I hate all the games I've played lately. I loved XCOM. I liked Dishonored a lot, even though I was hoping for a little more of a Thief experience from it, but It at least leaves me with great hopes for a sequel. I'm not a huge Bethesda fan, but I think Skyrim is good and I really enjoyed the last 2 Fallouts even though I was annoyed by the thousand bugs in each. I think Bioshock Infifnite will be interesting, especially in how the mechanics of the rail system works, but as much as I liked the backstory, world building and main plot twist, I felt like Bioshock was inferior to the System Shocks overall. Of course, I loved both Portals, but they're no substitute for Half-Life. I liked Gears of War, but don't really feel a need to play more than the first two.
I have been really into the Assassin's Creed games and the Mass Effects, but I haven't even been able to finish the last installments of both. I used to be the biggest Zelda fan and now I am pretty convinced they will never make another truly great one. I really enjoyed RDR and GTAIV and I'm still excited about V. I am also kind of looking forward to Tomb Raider, but I'm worried that it will be too scripted for my tastes. I thought Human Revolution was pretty good, but it was lacking something. Really none of the Franchises I really care about are as exciting to me as they used to be.
I know I probably sound like a huge complainer here. I do think there are still a lot of great, talented people working in games, and I really don't intend to seem so broadly critical, but I've been playing games since Pong and right now, I feel like the industry has moved away from everything that ever drew me to it in the first place. I occasionally get into an indie game here or there, I like Amnesia a lot, I had a lot of fun playing with the mapping in Miasmata recently and really enjoyed my second run through FEZ, but It seems like most games, from indie to AAA, don't inspire the deep attachment and loyalty they used to.
I don't know. Maybe I'm just getting too old or all of this. I know I'm putting too much expectation on Valve, but I know they are committed to making a great experience and a great game, not just churning out a yearly franchise entry and I still trust them to deliver the kind of game I can get excited about.
EDIT: I should add that Walking Dead blew me away this year too. It really is something special, but not enough to make me feel different about the industry as a whole.
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