Brought back to a game

[Patrick Buck]

Lately I've been playing a load of Mass Effect 3's multiplayer again, partly because of the new DLC, because I thought it was paid, but apparently not.
And Wow. It's completely addicted me to the game again. (Excluding the ending please, the rest of the game is almost flawless in my eyes)

So my question is this, what kind of thing brings you back to a game? New DLC? A Friend mentioning a craving to play multiplayer with you again? Plain old nostagia?

So what motivates you to play your old games?

 

[Rawne1980]

Usually mods.

I'll be watching something or mucking around on a game and I get an idea for a mod so it's back to Oblivion/Skyrim or Fallout 3/NV.

That's the only example I have because those are the only games I go back to.

 

[Sixcess]

I only replay games where the actual gameplay - rather than say the story - are the main attraction, so Doom and Civilisation II get revisted quite often.

In MMOs it's a bit different. I rarely hit endgame so there's usually something new to see that I haven't done before, or a new or neglected alt to play. I don't think I so much as leave them as just rotate through them according to my mood at the time, or if something - a book I've read or film I've watched in the same genre, a news article on Massively, or a thread here - puts me back into that mood.

And occassionally I feel guilty about my stack of unfinished games and go back for a few more levels. One day I will finish Return to Castle Wolfenstein - it's only been about 6 or 7 years.

 

[srm79]

A variety of things will do it for me. I have a bunch of old games that I still play regularly. A few of those are:

Silent Hunter III

I'm a bit of a sim-nerd, and I'm also a bit of a military history geek as well. Very few games have ever immersed the player in the action the way that SHIII did, especially with the Grey Wolves 3.0 mod. It's so good, that I'll still take it over either of the sequels any day of the week.

IL2:1946

As above, but in addition there is still a fair sized online community for the game. It's also one of the few online communities where "n00bs" aren't considered the scum of the earth and are actively encouraged to learn and improve their skills. It's a good mentality for a community to have I think. And besides, there's far more satisfaction from scoring a victory against a competent pilot who makes you work for it instead of against a novice who's flying in a straight line all dumb and happy. It's not uncommon to see more experienced players taking newcomers under their wing (see what I did there?!) and teaching them the finer points of aerial combat.

It's also pretty much the last "serious" WWII era flight sim made, as the genre seemed to slip quietly into obscurity around this time. There have been a few half baked efforts since then, but nothing that came even remotely close to the scale, accuracy and sheer playability of this. Combined with a healthy modding community and literally thousands of fan made missions, campaigns, aircraft skins and whatnot it's literally endless.

Rome: Total War

Apart from being a military history geek, I also get a bit of a chubby for classical history. I also enjoy strategy games, but because of the classical setting, Rome is still my favourite game in the Total War series. I also have this one modded, with the Roma Surrectum II mod. It's a complete rewrite of the game from the ground up and I feel confident in saying that no matter how good it turns out to be, Rome 2 will still not be able to touch RSII in any area other than graphics. A bold claim, true, but anyone who has played RSII probably knows why I've said that.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Because it's still the best GTA by a country mile. My PC copy has gone missing somewhere, so I was delighted to spot it on the PSN store for a very reasonable sum recently. Grove Street for life, Yo!

 

[Darmy647]

It really depends. DLC is a big one, another is just to revisit the difficulty. I enjoy a good gaming grind here and there.

On another related note, i Recently purchased a PlayStation Vita due to seeing hundreds of vita fans defend the living shit out of the thing. My verdict? Pleased so far. I purchased monster hunter Unite on it with the playstation store, i am most pleased. In fact, id say Monster Hunters call backs are always due to challenging fights and the addiction of slowly making my way up the equipment ranks.

 

[krazykidd]

Lol , DLC . The old games i play , are from a time before DLC . Honestly , i don't have any reason to replay my current gen games , that lack ... Substance i guess . Sure they are entertaining for the first playthough , but after than , meh . It's no wonder used games sales are so high , current gen games are missing a certain je ne sais quoi, old games have . Well at least for me .

What makes me replay old games? Because they are good. That's all there is to it . They are still good , fun , entertaining , and deep after all these years . Oh and i'm a console gamer , so mods don't affect me .

 

[The Wykydtron]

I go back to "older" games simply because I dropped them for absolutely no reason to begin with. I've only just gotten back into Borderlands 2, I guess because I was intrigued to see the Mechromancer (Deathtrap OP.)

I have to play that singleplayer though... The writing to TOO good for it to be ruined by my friend blasting music through the headset. Plus all the loot is MINE! MINE I SAY! AHAHAHAHAHA!

I can't even say why I got back into LoL last year. I just did. I was so SHIT at that game, I dropped it because of... Reasons (probably related to the shitness) then ground my way to level 30 then over 1000 wins and one 5 man Ranked team later here I am.

Marginally less shit than I was before. I still see every kill as sort of a surprise... Oh i'm NOT shit at this game? Fuck me...

Then again when you rack up as many assists as me in every single game you learn to not give many fucks about kills. Seriously I could play VAYNE and go 0/0/10. It's silly

 

[revjor]

I replay Morrowind because other games aren't Morrowind enough. ahahaha

I replay Katamari because nothing is better than Katamari.

 

[an annoyed writer]

Nostalgia, and learning to build these things. I'm playing Ocarina of Time on the N64 again just so see what worked and what didn't about that game.

 

[TheRussian]

Every time I see some crazy new weapon added to TF2 I immediately start it up and craft/trade to experiment. Not that I don't play TF2 all the time anyway, but if there is a lapse, this is what brings me back.

 

[Lugbzurg]

After recently completing the "Master Quest" version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I started up the sequel, Majora's Mask. I've just gotta get some bombs, I think. Then, I can get past those giant snowballs.

 

[Joccaren]

Either because I feel like playing a game with gameplay that it most accurately suits, I feel like experiencing its story again, or I feel like modding it to hell and back to end up with a completely different game. I tend to stay away from games my friends mention wanting to play with me, as I know that'll lead to six months of playing it every night otherwise, and DLC is meh if I'm not already interested in the game.

 

[janjotat]

I always to replay for games after I beat them once. I never restart a game after I finished it until several months have passed to keep it fresh. I don't find it fun to already know the answers so I wait for a while until I forget the smaller details. The only way I revisit a game is if I currently have nothing new to keep me preoccupied.

 

[Tom_green_day]

The multiplayer brought me back to ME3 too.
I think the only thing that makes me return to a game is if there is so much freedom that I haven't actually got bored of it, but there isn't so much freedom that I CBA to start again.

 

[Mordekaien]

I'd say it's an itch to try something in that game, that I've never tried before. Like doing other quests for other factions in ES games or fallout, making and trying new builds in Neverwinter Nights, and so on.
I'm currently getting through Oblivion's Thieves guild, the only one left that I haven't played, after that I'll go for side-quests in Shivering Isles, etc.
Those kind of things.

 

[Rooster893]

Modern Warfare 2. I adore the campaign.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Replay value. I just reinstalled Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, since it has a very solid gameplay foundation and seven playable races that each offer different playstyles and tactical possibilities. Another game I've been playing is Skyrim, since I downloaded a bunch of mods and started roleplaying as Guts from Berserk, and it's glorious.

So in summation, replay value and the amount of additional content for the game.

 

[dimensional]

If I like it a lot odds are I will go back to it at some point usually after a long break atm I keep returning to a lot of my fighting games such as Capcom vs SNK2,KOF Maximum impact 2, MVC2, UMVC3, KoFXIII, SFAE2012,SF3 third Strike, SFII turbo, SCV, DOA5 and BBCSEX to name a few simply because I find them fun and timeless (or at least quite resistant to time) plus there is always the motivation to get better so I feel like the more I spend with them the more I get out of them as my skill, dexterity and understanding of the characters and game mechanics improves.

In short if I feel a game is great and has more to offer me I will return quite frequently while if I love it but feel like I have explored most of its intricacies and more or less mastered it I am unlikely to return for a long time but since this dosent really happen in decent competitive games I am more likely to return to them that singleplayer games.

Additional content is unlikely to make me return to a game if I feel I am done with it the motivation just isnt there unless its something truly special.

 

[Squilookle]

I first got Sid Meier's Pirates! a month or so before I got Mount and Blade Warband- and if you don't know, Warband is more or less just Pirates! but in the Middle ages. Much as I loved Pirates while playing it- once I got Warband I was so hooked I barely played Pirates for the longest time.

Last night, guilt got the better of me so I fired up Pirates! again- ended up having a ball and playing for several hours in it.

I also constantly get drawn back to Goldeneye for it's singleplayer. In particular, the hard as nails throwing knife stealth-em up Bunker 2, and the end of Facility, where you can -if you so choose- hold your ground and fight endless waves of Russian Soldiers pouring into the bottling room. I keep coming back to it's little brother Perfect Dark for the best multiplayer bots on the console.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Well the Overhaul 3.0 mod for Morrowind has brought me back to that game. Also I'm back to playing Bad Company 2 now that I know the best times to find full matches.