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I'm Free

by danielkempster

...What they said. I've spent the best part of the last three weeks pumping my spare time into finishing two University assignments before the end of term. Last night, I finally finished them, proof-read them, and submitted them online. Today, I handed in the hard paper copies. So ignoring the minuscule amount of reading I have to do for my final week of lectures, I am essentially free from aca...

  

 
...What they said. 
 
I've spent the best part of the last three weeks pumping my spare time into finishing two University assignments before the end of term. Last night, I finally finished them, proof-read them, and submitted them online. Today, I handed in the hard paper copies. So ignoring the minuscule amount of reading I have to do for my final week of lectures, I am essentially free from academic commitments of any kind. Even my paid work has paradoxically slowed, to the point where I'll only working two shifts this week. Admittedly, that's Friday and Saturday - the mornings after two very messy end-of-term events - but it's still a significant step down from the four-shifts-a-week routine that I've been struggling to fit around my already-haphazard timetable. Throw all of this together, add the fact that I'll soon be heading back to my parents' house for two weeks, and it's finally starting to feel like Christmas is just around the corner.
 
 Modern FPS games totally need more cyborg monkeys So what about these last few weeks, eh? Well, in those rare periods when I haven't been writing essays, working my arse off for minimal pay, or trying to keep on top of the usual household chores, I've been playing some video games. The big one, of course, is Mass Effect 2, but I'm not planning on devoting any blog-space to it today. Having passed the twenty-hour mark, it's definitely a game that lends itself to a complete post rather than a measly paragraph. For now, I'll just say that I'm loving it in spite of some very questionable design decisions, and I can't wait to continue my experience properly now that time is on my side. Alongside ME2, I started and finished a playthrough of the Story mode in TimeSplitters: Future Perfect on the PS2. Having never completed the game's campaign on Hard difficulty, I decided to take my accumulated experience with the FPS genre back to this title and have another crack at it. Even five years on from its release, the game remains awesome. The jokes are still funny, the heavily-stylized graphics still look great, the campaign is well-structured and the gunplay is as satisfying as it ever was. My only complaint is the game's lack of variety in its time periods compared to its predecessor, but that's a minor gripe in light of how much fun I had with it. I'd even go as far as to say that I enjoyed my time with Future Perfect even more than my recent inauguration to Call of Duty 4. Playing those two games back-to-back has also left me itching to share my two cents on the topic of multiplayer, something I intend to do in a future blog very soon. All in all, Future Perfect has aged pretty damn well for a PS2-era first-person shooter. I did have to turn off the inverted Y axis, though - that's one control scheme that it's definitely impossible to go back to after two and a half years of current-gen shooting mechanics. 
 
When I've not been in the mood for interstellar exploration, I've been turning my attention to something else that I love - creative writing. My final year of University has brought with it a creative writing module on mythic study, and it's got me picking up the pen a lot more often. As well as a few sets of song lyrics, I've also churned out proposals for the plots of two novels, which I hope to really devote some time to once I've finished my studies. The big one for me right now, though, is a short story about an assassination, told from three different perspectives - the assassin, the target, and the contractor. Obviously the essays have hampered my progress somewhat, and I've still got a long way to go before it's finished, but I'm confident that it's shaping up to be one of the best pieces I've ever produced. The Myth module has reignited my creative fire and taught me a lot about the writing process. Hopefully this marks a permanent shift for me out of the creative doldrums and into a steady stream of productivity.
 
It's been a long Autumn term for me. Longer than it has been for most students, anyway. Even though the term didn't start until October for me, I've spent most of my summer living close to campus on account of my part-time job here, as well as to ensure my girlfriend and I don't spend too much time apart. After a seemingly endless schedule of lectures, seminars, essay deadlines, cleaning shifts and other commitments, it's nice to finally see a week ahead that's fairly devoid of plans. Tomorrow, somebody is coming to fix our washer-dryer. On Thursday, my girlfriend and I are going to have our own little early Christmas celebration before we part ways for the vacation. Friday and Saturday mornings will be spent working. Other than that, though, my time has finally opened back up again, and will remain open until the Spring term begins in mid-January. As well as using this newfound freedom to play a lot of video games, I plan to devote a chunk of it to blogging as well. For anybody wondering, here's the official anticipated blog breakdown for the rest of 2010: 

  • December 14th to 23rd - I'm not saying I'll be pushing out a blog on every single one of these ten days, but there is a lot of stuff I want to get out there before the festive season is upon us. In this time I'm hoping to treat you all to a whopping four servings of Enduring Final Fantasy VII, my final opinions of Mass Effect 2 (if I finish it in time), and my thoughts on the importance of multiplayer to the video game industry.
  • December 24th - Just like the last two years, Christmas Eve will see the first part of my traditional Christmas Mega-Blog. Once again, it'll probably be a simple rundown of my Christmas plans, the gifts I hope to receive, the gifts that I've given this year, and a look back on some of the more personal, less game-oriented moments that made 2010 special for me.
  • December 25th - I've got something very special planned for my Christmas Day Giant Bomb blog. Excited? You should be!
  • December 26th - This one's just for you, Claude! To round off the Mega-Blog, I'm planning something unprecedented - I'm going to write about the Wii. Always riding the crest of every trendy wave, my parents have finally bought one for the family as a joint Christmas present. Boxing Day will hopefully see me sharing my Christmas Day experiences of Nintendo's little box of tricks.
  • December 27th to 30th - Not one to rest after a three-part Christmas Mega Blog, the 27th should see the start of my 'Best of 2010' blogs. Across these four days, I'll be blogging retrospectively about every single one of the thirty-odd games that made my 2010. If nothing else, it'll be a damn sight better than those Spike VGA thingies.
  • December 31st - After establishing my greatest gaming experiences of the last twelve months, only one thing really remains to be done before 2010 ends - to take a look forward to 2011 and get all giddy about the experiences I have to look forward to in the next twelve months. Expect mentions of upcoming releases, as well as games I finally intend to get around to playing.
 
Wow, spelling it all out like that makes it look daunting! Hopefully it shouldn't prove too difficult to stick to this schedule, though. Now that all that work is out of the way, I've definitely got time. Thanks for reading, guys. I'll see you around.
 
 
Dan 
 
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Currently playing - Mass Effect 2 (X360)