Nowadays it seems as though every Steam sale, blockbuster release, and darling indie game is out to suck our wallets dry and take our free time by storm. In what feels like a massive influx of quality titles and more ways then ever to get them on the cheap, you’d be forgiven for accumulating a massive store of games that remain untouched for months or even years. The thought of committing enough time to complete such an enormous backlog is enough to make one’s head spin. But by taking the right approach, tackling a large backlog can teach you a good deal about your tastes in video games.
Take my personal backlog for example. Humble Bundles, Steam sales, holiday gifts, and individual purchases have snowballed into a backlog of intimidating size, and I wasn’t sure at first how to handle it. I attempted the usual approach of completing the main portion of each game, whether that be a story mode, campaign, or other form of main game before moving on, but that only worked in the early days. Every time I acquired a new game I was eager to try, I couldn’t resist giving it a test run. Before long, my orderly list of completed games fresh from the backlog became a sloppy, fractured mess.
The amount of completion per backlog game fell just about everywhere on the spectrum. Some games such as Mark of the Ninja, God of War, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown failed to hold my interest past the first few hours. Others, like Antichamber, lost me at about the halfway mark. I even abandoned Mirror’s Edge when the story’s conclusion was in sight. At that point, it was difficult for me to decide what I wanted to play. I felt committed to most of those titles, but not enough to any particular one to jump back in without second thoughts.
Enter Fallout 3. Just as I was juggling Assassin’s Creed IV, Resident Evil 4, and Super Mario 3D World, I picked up a used copy of Fallout 3. Per the usual, I had heard too many great things about Fallout 3 to refuse popping it in my PS3 to give it a shot. I used the excuse that I had to test it because it was a used copy. It started out at a painfully slow crawl, but I was intrigued enough to power through. As soon as I broke past the entry barrier, Fallout 3 had its hooks in me. Despite Black Flag and Resident Evil 4 on my to-do list, Fallout 3 was all I ever wanted to play.
Because it emerged as a clear victor from the all-out brawl that was my backlog, I appreciated Fallout 3 that much more. I can say with certainty I enjoyed it more than Resident Evil 4 or Black Flag, which is rare for me. It typically takes me much longer to digest an experience, to consider its pros and cons before I can rank it among others. This isn’t to say that I didn’t like Black Flag and Resident Evil 4, though. I enjoyed both games greatly. But arbitrarily forcing myself to continue them when there was another game I would rather play drained much of the fun from both experiences.
I’ve since completed Fallout 3 and moved on to other games. After failing to be drawn in by Guacamelee, I’ve finally latched onto another game. Like Fallout 3 before it, Batman: Arkham City is in charge of my one-track gaming mind. I played Arkham Asylum a few years ago, and it was fun, but I was never totally enamored with it like everyone else seemed to be. Now that Arkham City has strong-armed its way to the top of my gaming priorities, I’ve found a new appreciation for the series. The impeccable controls, fluid combat, and perfect visual cues that are never intrusive are all clear indicators of why I’m having more fun with Arkham City than most of the other backlog games I’ve dabbled in thus far.
What I’ve learned is that a backlog should never be treated as a tedious list of chores that must be neatly checked off one-by-one. Instead, a backlog should mean total gaming freedom for its owner. From now on I will take advantage of my backlog and experiment with new games until I naturally gravitate toward the ones I enjoy most. Attempting to compare two complete experiences in isolation is far more challenging, because no matter how I rationalize which is a better game, I can’t get the same instinctive gauge on which was simply more fun to play. I welcome the next Steam sale with open arms and eagerly anticipate the next Humble Bundle, because I can’t wait to find the next game that commands my attention.
